About Recording Custom

It's been more than 30 years since Yamaha's Recording Custom stormed on to the drum scene with its stunning looks and immaculate finish. The RC was the first series to utilise Yamaha's many years of experience in high gloss lacquer finishes, perfected over more than a century of acoustic instrument manufacturing. Combined with the elegant one-piece Hi-Tension lugs the RC created a new standard in professional drum set design and appearance.

When the Recording Custom first appeared in the mid 1970s it stunned the drum world with its 'piano' lacquered exterior. The looks and design of the RC were so strikingly new they were immediately copied by every other major manufacturer.

The RC's 100% birch shells combine a high gloss lacquer exterior finish with a hand-rubbed stain interior. The 7-ply bass drums and 6-ply tom toms have straight sided walls, allowing unimpeded sound projection. This is further aided by the perfect 45 degree bearing edges. The shells are manufactured using the Air Seal System where the wood plies, with staggered diagonal seams, are sealed together under evenly distributed air pressure. This ensures that all Yamaha shells are the model of consistency and durability.

Birch shells deliver a lower fundamental tone than maple. As a result, they project a warm, rounded sound with a slightly shorter decay, ideal for the controlled environment of the studio. The legendary RC is consequently the most recorded drum kit of modern times. The controlled sound is further helped by our sleek, one-piece Hi-Tension heavily chromed lug casings. Precision machined lug nuts provide noise-free operation due to their spring-less casing design.

Yet another innovation of the RC series was the floor-stand suspended tom tom, pioneered by the world's number one studio drummer, Steve Gadd. This funky type of mount, at first designed for Steve's shallower floor toms, led to the now universal adoption of the 'fusion' style shell pack.

The Recording Custom is today improved even further by the addition of the YESS (Yamaha Enhanced Sustain System) mounts. YESS minimizes tom mount-to-shell contact thereby increasing resonance and maximizing dynamic range and sustain.

What Do I Get For My Money

Recording Custom drums are available in 3 shell pack configurations or as individual shells allowing you to build your perfect set of drums in the sizes you want to play.

The price of a Recording Custom individual drums do not include any tom arms which need to be purchased separately.

If you would like a quote for a Recording Custom drum kit please contact us with a list of the shell sizes you would like (see below for available sizes)

It is worth bearing in mind that although there is normally a limited stock of Recording Custom drums available for immediate purchase, most kits would be Special Order, made exclusively for the customer and shipped from Japan, taking between 4 - 6 months.

Available Sizes

Shell Packs

Jazz Fusion - 20"x16" bass drum, 10"x09", 12"x10", 14"x12" rack toms (includes tom holders)

Fusion - 22" x16" bass drum, 10"x09", 12"x10", 14"x12" rack toms (includes tom holders)

Rock - 22"x16" bass drum, 12"x10" & 13"x11" rack toms, 16"x16" floor tom (includes tom holders)

Bass Drums

18"x14"
20"x14", 20"x16"
22"x14", 22"x16"
24"x16"

Floor Toms

14"x14"
16"x16"
18"x16"

Rack Toms

08"x08"
10"x7.5", 10"x09"
12"x08", 12"x10"
13"x09", 13"x11"
14"x10", 14"x12"
15"x13"
16"x14"

Colour Options

The Recording Custom series drum kit is available in 2 different finishes, Cherrywood and Solid Black.

To view the available colours, click on the icons above.