Yamaha Recording Custom

1986 Yamaha Recording Custom Drum Kit: 8×10, 8×12, 10×14, 11×15, 14×22

My Yamaha Recording Custom Drums

My brother Sean Savoie purchased this Yamaha Recording Custom kit in the summer of 1986, just before heading off to Berklee College of Music, where he earned a Professional Drummer’s Degree with Honors. It became his primary gigging kit for the next three decades — a true workhorse that traveled with him through over 1,000 shows.

I inherited the kit in 2016, and it’s been my primary gigging kit ever since. Between the two of us, we’re closing in on 1,500 shows on these drums, and they still look and play like new. That’s a testament to how well they were built and how carefully we’ve both treated them.

I’ve built several kits from scratch and owned many of the finest drums ever made. This Recording Custom is simply the best-sounding, best-playing kit I’ve ever sat behind. It’s my most prized possession.

What makes it special isn’t just the sound — it’s how effortlessly it works for the working drummer. The hardware is exceptional: fast to set up, fast to break down, and everything returns to the exact same position every night. The toms hold their tuning so reliably that it’s become a running joke among the band — I rarely touch them with a drum key.

I’ve tested myself on this. I brought out my Pearl Reference Series Purple Craze kit for a handful of shows. I love those drums, but the setup and breakdown was genuinely brutal — unsustainable for a busy gigging schedule. I also gave my Walnut/Maple Stripe stave kit a run — Yamaha hardware, similar sizes, and it sounds absolutely incredible. But after a half-dozen shows, I came right back to the Recording Customs.

Some drums are beautiful. Some drums sound great in a practice room. This kit does everything — night after night, show after show. It’s my ideal kit, full stop.