Yamaha Recording Custom 1977

[baz1949]

Just picked this kit up today, four drums Birch Shells, Natural finish,all complete apart from original type double tom holder and eight Floor Tom tension rods. As you can see the bass drum tension rods and holders are pretty beat up and there are a few minor scuffs on the shells. They are all made in Japan, serial numbers as follows
BD 24x14 924A OJ
TT 13x9 913AE OJ
TT 14x10 914AE OJ
FT 18x16 918AE OJ
I was going to use Ambassador Coated heads unless you can advise better. I am definitely having a lot of the parts re-chromed but would you advise rubbing down and re-lacquering the shells to make the kit pristine or would it lose all its character. I am always torn between authentic and restoration
Any pictures of original tom holders would be appreciated, so I know what to look for on ebay

I also have a matching made in Japan 14x6.5 Free Floating snare drum to finish this kit off

 

[Tama CW]

Those badges are March 1978.

Check out the 1978 Yamaha catalog below for details on tom mounts and other hardware. One obvious difference on this early hardware is that the wing bolts are smooth and polished with rounded edges and "Yamaha" is stamped INTO the metal (incuse vs raised).
The wing bolt tensioners on each ball swivel are wish bone style. In 1981 they modified all those wing bolts to a very different style....and that's mostly what you see for sale on Ebay, Reverb, etc. If you're looking to find matching stands for your kit, they came with
the gold colored Yamaha decals (1977-1980). Nice kit. And with those square corner badges, it shows they were used through at least March 1978. By the fall of '78 they switched for good to rounded corners on all MIJ badges.

http://www.drumarchive.com/Yamaha/Yamaha1978.pdf

The 1978 catalog may have been showing only what was being made available in the USA....9000D and 9000DA shells. You won't find any of the high tension lug shells (9000 AE for example -Made In Japan) in that catalog.

I don't know if I would re-lacquer the shells, esp. on a valuable, early MIJ pre-recording series kit like this. Should be a simpler way of shining up those shells with cleaner/polish. Novus? Light clearcoat? The finish of some of these early real wood shells is a faint semi-gloss....not blistering reflective like a few years later by 81-82. The catalog above should give you some more ideas on hardware and shell finishes.

.

 

[baz1949]

Check out the 1978 Yamaha catalog below for details on tom mounts and other hardware. One obvious difference on this early hardware is that the wing bolts are smooth and polished with rounded edges and "Yamaha" is stamped into the metal.
The wing bolt tensioners on each ball swivel are wish bone style. In 1981 they modified those to a different style....and that's mostly what you see for sale on Ebay, Reverb, etc. If you're looking to find matching stands for your kit, they came with
the gold colored Yamaha decals (1977-1980). Nice kit. And with those square corner badges, it shows they were used through at least March 1978. By the fall of '78 they switched to rounded corners on all badges.

http://www.drumarchive.com/Yamaha/Yamaha1978.pdf

.

Thanks for your knowledge, it will help me a lot

 

[baz1949]

Those badges are March 1978.

Check out the 1978 Yamaha catalog below for details on tom mounts and other hardware. One obvious difference on this early hardware is that the wing bolts are smooth and polished with rounded edges and "Yamaha" is stamped INTO the metal (incuse vs raised).
The wing bolt tensioners on each ball swivel are wish bone style. In 1981 they modified all those wing bolts to a very different style....and that's mostly what you see for sale on Ebay, Reverb, etc. If you're looking to find matching stands for your kit, they came with
the gold colored Yamaha decals (1977-1980). Nice kit. And with those square corner badges, it shows they were used through at least March 1978. By the fall of '78 they switched for good to rounded corners on all MIJ badges.

http://www.drumarchive.com/Yamaha/Yamaha1978.pdf

The 1978 catalog may have been showing only what was being made available in the USA....9000D and 9000DA shells. You won't find any of the high tension lug shells (9000 AE for example -Made In Japan) in that catalog.

I don't know if I would re-lacquer the shells, esp. on a valuable, early MIJ pre-recording series kit like this. Should be a simpler way of shining up those shells with cleaner/polish. Novus? Light clearcoat? The finish of some of these early real wood shells is a faint semi-gloss....not blistering reflective like a few years later by 81-82. The catalog above should give you some more ideas on hardware and shell finishes.

.

No I agree with you regarding re-lacquering, what I intended doing was taking all the hardware off and having it re-chromed, then just cleaning and polishing the shells. What does OJ stand for on the badges ? and again, thanks for your help

 

[baz1949]

Also on my SD the serial number is 065D NZ Does anybody know what the "NZ" stands for

 

[Tama CW]

Also on my SD the serial number is 065D NZ Does anybody know what the "NZ" stands for

It means the same thing as OJ on your other drums. That's the date code - year/month. OJ is March 1978. NZ is Dec 1977. A pretty close match if you ask me.

Years use the letters HIJKLMNOP Q/X for 1-10. Same for months which go from H-Z. Pretty simple.

The D on 065 D means "wood." 065 is a 6.5" deep snare. Fwiw finding 1977 or 1976 Yamaha's is not easy. From 1978 and on they really started cranking them out.

In looking at page 7 in the 1978 catalog, they show a solid ring type of mem lock with a perpendicular oriented set screw. That's different from the '79-'82 spring clamps.
Looks like something entirely different used from 76 to 78. Maybe someone here with a '77-'78 kit could shed some more details.

 

[baz1949]

It means the same thing as OJ on your other drums. That's the date code - year/month. OJ is March 1978. NZ is Dec 1977. A pretty close match if you ask me.

Years use the letters HIJKLMNOP Q/X for 1-10. Same for months which go from H-Z. Pretty simple.

The D on 065 D means "wood." 065 is a 6.5" deep snare. Fwiw finding 1977 or 1976 Yamaha's is not easy. From 1978 and on they really started cranking them out.

You could spend a LONG time finding the exact tom mount for your kit. Might take a year. You might want to just buy a 1981-1985 vintage one for $40-$50 until you find the real deal. Make sure get all 3 memory locks on the mount you purchase.
They changed memory locks on the main post during the early 80's. While a newer one might slip on properly, it won't seat properly into the bass plate on your bass drum. Yours came with spring clamp style memory locks. They almost look like hose
clamps from a car. 3 of those on your 1970's tom mount. The later mem locks are beefy and fat like all the ones used by major makers for majority of the 1980's.

I really appreciate all your help with this and I will keep you updated on my progress in getting these beauties back to A1 condition. PS Is it worth trying to contact Yamaha direct to enquire about parts and original hardware for this kit ?? or would they not be interested ??

 

[Tama CW]

Yamaha would likely be of little to no help. Most of the people there now know less than we do about these vintage drums. And they recently removed some helpful vintage drum information from their site. They're going the wrong way....lol.
You should be fine just looking at similar kits in the cats, on Reverb, Ebay and finding out what exactly you need.
Then just hawk Reverb, Ebay, FB/CL for things that might pop up for sale over the next 1-2 yrs.
Your bass drum will come with 16 T style tension rods and 4 drum key style from the factory. A Yamaha quirk.

 

[baz1949]

I do believe this is the kit used at a drum clinic in 1979 in Oldham Lancashire. The clinician was Clive Bunker who used to be with Jethro Tull. Just trying to authenticate this story

 

[DanRH]

Or go on the Facebook Yamaha group. A lot of great resources there.

Facebook Groups

The Yamaha Drum Closet has 6,480 members. “The Yamaha Drum Closet” invites Yamaha drum enthusiasts into this group to share their love for Yamaha drums. Posts that have a connection to Yamaha drums...

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[rikkrebs]

I actually think most of that chrome will clean and polish up. You would be suprised.

 

[baz1949]

I actually think most of that chrome will clean and polish up. You would be suprised.

Thanks I will give it a go and will post when finished

 

[Kevinpursuit]

I do believe this is the kit used at a drum clinic in 1979 in Oldham Lancashire. The clinician was Clive Bunker who used to be with Jethro Tull. Just trying to authenticate this story

Wow, Clive Bunker, resurrect old memories, “Locomotive Breath”. Remember him well!