MusicRadar

• Review

With the Club Custom, Yamaha launches a completely new kit, radically different from any of its previous lines.

There is a new shell material, unique painted finish and retro sizes. The shells are 100 percent Kapur wood, which was first used as a tone-wood component of the flagship Phoenix (PHX) shells, but here forms the entire shell.

Build

The use of Malaysian Kapur is a bold new departure, but the most obviously striking thing about the Club Custom is the finish - our Swirl Orange kit being a bright orange with thin yellow stripes.

You'd be forgiven for thinking this is a plastic wrap, but no, it involves a brand new hand-painting and lacquering process.

"Construction of the shells, as with all Yamaha's Japanese product, is exemplary."

The story goes that Steve Jordan requested it after seeing a similar finish on the café wall while visiting Yamaha in Japan! Yamaha's Gavin Thomas explains: "It's all hand-done, labour intensive, so every drum is different. There are three layers of colour - the background colour then orange and yellow. The paint is put on in layers then taken off in stages to create that textured finish. The layers are quite thin and then lacquered on top."

The yellow rings stand up a little from the surface - you can feel them like brail as you run your fingers across the plastic-like finish.

Orange will certainly draw attention on stage, but it won't be to everyone's taste. In which case don't worry, there are four other choices, all more subdued - a Swirl Black and Swirl Blue, plus two rather staid (and slightly cheaper) matte finishes in black and brown.

Construction of the shells, as with all Yamaha's Japanese product, is exemplary. The bearing edges have Yamaha's 60-3R profile, one of seven bearing edges the company uses.

It has a shallow 60° cut leading to a smooth round-over with no sharp peak. The shells are 6-ply and 7mm thick, which makes them medium-thin. The inner ply lies horizontally and has a dusky, mid-brown colour.

We found the shells to be almost perfectly round (within 0-1mm) which is unusually impressive, even for expensive drums. Inside, the shells are left only partially sanded with a definite nap which should increase the woodiness of the tone.

As for sizes, the review kit is 22"x15", 12"x8", 14"x13", 16"x15" and 14"x5 " snare. Yamaha offers four bass drums, from 18" to 24" and they are all 15" deep, emphasising the classic style.

They can all (except the 18") be ordered with or without a central tom mount. There's only the one snare but a good range of toms: 8"x7", 10"x7", 12"x8", 13"x9" with Y.E.S.S. resonance mounting brackets, and 14"x13", 16"x15" and 18"x16" floor toms with legs.

In keeping with the vintage vibe, the bass drum has classic-style claw hooks on the solid-colour wooden hoops.

Unlike those made by most other manufacturers, the Y.E.S.S. mounting bracket is not slung from the top lugs but is attached via two strong bolts positioned at the nodal point of the shell.

This must surely put a strain on the shell, but it's been a Yamaha feature for years now and no one has complained that we're aware of.

Hoops are standard 1.6mm triple-flanged chromed steel and the small lug is the same previously seen on the Oak Custom. The quietly operating side-lever strainer, from the Absolute series, has a big comfortable lever knob and the 20-strand steel snares have classy brass end-plates.