Yamaha Oak Custom Drum

[igorot]

Any thoughts on these drums (http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/...RODUCT,00.html)? I'm torn between this and Mapex Saturn for my kit upgrade. How does the oak kit fair with other wood (ie. mapel, birch, etc..) when it comes to recording? The oak kit sounds louder but I'm not sure if that's good or bad for recording. My new kit will stay in the studio 80% of the time.

[fiveironguy]

thats funny cause i was looking at those 2 exact kits... actually i was looking at the higher end mapex kit as well.. in the end i decided with the oak custom kit. mine sounds great.. the snare has such nice pop to it.. i spent about 1200$ on 4 symbals as well.. UFIP rocks.

[PYRRHO]

The Yamaha Oaks are unique, original, and sound great.
The Mapex are...
Mapex. Neither good nor bad...they just are. Vanilla.

Oak, because it is very hard and stiff, is 'technically' brighter and louder than other woods, including maple but...
don't pay much attention to the pseudo-scientific drivel propagated by manufacturers. We're talking about drums here, not violins. The differences are extremely subtle, and while a more experienced and discerning drummer may be able to sense the feel and response of different wood types, it's nothing that will ever cut through the mix. Even under a mic, where the differences will be more apparent, once the other instruments are up and running, no one will ever hear a difference. A well tuned drum is a well tuned drum. Regarding the volume of Oaks, again...insignificant. The Oaks do have a slightly brighter character, but nothing to get in the way. You'll notice far more variation in tone and volume just by moving your drums from room to room, or switching heads...sticks...mics.

[igorot]

Originally Posted by PYRRHO

The Yamaha Oaks are unique, original, and sound great.
The Mapex are...
Mapex. Neither good nor bad...they just are. Vanilla.

Oak, because it is very hard and stiff, is 'technically' brighter and louder than other woods, including maple but...
don't pay much attention to the pseudo-scientific drivel propagated by manufacturers. We're talking about drums here, not violins. The differences are extremely subtle, and while a more experienced and discerning drummer may be able to sense the feel and response of different wood types, it's nothing that will ever cut through the mix. Even under a mic, where the differences will be more apparent, once the other instruments are up and running, no one will ever hear a difference. A well tuned drum is a well tuned drum. Regarding the volume of Oaks, again...insignificant. The Oaks do have a slightly brighter character, but nothing to get in the way. You'll notice far more variation in tone and volume just by moving your drums from room to room, or switching heads...sticks...mics.

So Pyrrho, if you have a choice, would you go with the oak? I'm really torn between the 2. The oak does sound unique but I never had any experience using them nor other drummers I know. My music (rock) seems to fit the oak but I'm also curious how versatile these are. I'm more concern on the recording part. This will stay in the studio most of the time.

[PYRRHO]

They'll record just fine. It all comes down to the engineer and equipment used.
Anyone saying otherwise has been reading too many catalogs.

So Yamaha or Mapex? Personally...Yamaha. For you? Your call man, but don't let it come down to wood-type. Base your decision on hardware quality, finish, appointments...politics...curb appeal. Six months down the road, it's not going to matter if the drums are made of maple, oak or birch, when the tom-holders keep stripping, your girlfriend thinks they look silly, and you find out the company is secretly hunting baby seals off the coast of Greenland.

[RCAGuy05]

Now the Mapex Saturn Pro's got 2 plies of walnut, I'm not sure what that actually does to the sound but my intuition tells me walnut is pretty cool. Plus the Saturn pro has thin shells that are said to give a more resonant sound. Where as a very dense thick shelled kit like the Oak Custom might give more of a less resonant punchy sound. I considered an Oak as well. And they look amazing!! If you can get a Saturn Pro in a wood finish I'd say go for it, or check out the Deep forest series. An engineer on DPS world mentioned that the oaks aren't the best for recording just very loud, but that is again something subjective. If there is more resonance in the thin shells of Maple and Walnut in the Saturn Pro then it would be worth the Saturn because its better to have a kit you can tune and muffle the bass drum to get a dead punchy sound yet has many other versitile sounds than a kit that is more dead and punchy by default, and if the difference in loudness and punch are very neglegible between the two kits, and you can get a cool wood finish like the Oak, then I'd say check out the Saturn.
Go with your gut and you can't be wrong.

Hey Pyrrho,
"You'll notice far more variation in tone and volume just by moving your drums from room to room, or switching heads...sticks...mics."
Also how you let the drums play themselves, playing them with soul and spirit.
Awesome drum wisdom, I've heard guys get incredible,explosively clean loud resonant,powerful amazing sounds out of the likes of Tama Rock Star, Yamaha Stage Custom, and Export series Pearl. Actually I had a Pearl Forum and a friend who was an amazing drum enthusiast tuned it up and it sounded completely different.

[RCAGuy05]

Saturn Pro-
6-ply, 5.1mm all North American maple and walnut shell construction, ALL DRUMS

Oak Custom-
6-ply, 6.6mm toms, snare drums and floor toms
7-ply, 7.7mm bass drums

[milto]

i have a saturn pro and have done both live and studio recordings. the kit sounded great with minimal hassels. i have a mate that filled in for me in one of my covers gigs and he has an oak series, that band is based off the traveling wilbureys, and the kit worked fine with the 70's sounding songs. so they will work with different styles other than rock( which they smoke in)