I've had the kit for over a year now and have used it on many gigs. After replacing the factory heads, the tone of these drums is punchy and present. You are getting Yamaha quality at an almost unbelievable price point. IMO, the snare that comes with the kit is good. I replaced the heads and snare wires on it and the sound is crisp and cuts through very nicely. The surf green finish is an eye catcher. I've received so many positive comments on the appearance of the kit. The kit holds up, sounds great and looks amazing. I like the drums so much I ordered a smaller floor tom and bass drum to create a bop size kit for smaller venues!

I have a Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple set that is too nice to take out for shows so I bought the stage custom to play out.

I'm a nerd so the first thing I did was remove all the hardware and put two light coats of finish on the inside of the shells. I did this mainly to extend the life of the kit as I believe that much exposed wood area is susceptible to expansion and contraction under different environmental criteria. It also marginally impacts resonance in a way I find pleasing.

Having done that, I replaced the original heads with Remo USA pinstripe on top and ambassadors on the bottom, tuned it up and away we go. I was blown away by the wee 'lil floor tom immediately. All I did was tension the heads to 73 on the drum dial and boom! done. Super throaty and no bad ring. The shell's across the kit have complementary resonance that is articulate and convincing. It took me six months to tune the absolute hybrid maples!

These come with the "Absolute" lugs which are single screw. A nice stable system that minimizes shell penetrations. I don't really like the thin hoops but for this price and the use case I don't care that much.

Killer kit, nice sea foam green matte finish looks great on stage and sounds great - plus I don't have to baby it too much. What more do you need?

Read More Show Less

I've used many Yamaha Stage Customs and am happy with the one I've purchased. The drums don't sound AMAZING on anything really; they just sound pretty good with almost every genre. I would definitely recommend this kit to someone who's looking for a solid gig kit or a kit for a younger drummer. All parts on the drums are built well and are easily replaceable, which is something I really love about the stage customs.

Also, I got the 20" kick, and it it BANGIN'! I put EMAD heads on the front and beater-side with a sweater inside, and you can feel that drum in your chest.