Yamaha Recording Custom 6-Pc 100th Anniversary Drum Kit African Bubinga Inner/Outer Ply Start Price USD 3,999.00 Current Price USD 3,999.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, December 02, 2008 End Time Sunday, December 07, 2008 Location Philadelphia, PA See more about 'Yamaha Recording Custom 6-Pc 100th Anniversary Drum Kit' Description Up for auction is an extremely rare 100th Anniversary Yamaha Recording Custom Drum Kit.  This kit was made in 1987 to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Yamaha company.  The badge reads 1887-1987.  The construction of these drums is very similar to the Recording Customs drums that were being produced in the late 1980s.  The main difference is the outer and inner plies of the drum.  Of the three different kits available for this commemoration, this kit was constructed with the African Bubinga ply for the inner and outer ply of the shell.  It is a unique finish which can only best be seen in person.  When I purchased these drums, I had already owned the Birdseye Maple version of this kit, so I expected something out of the ordinary.  However, from the pictures I assumed that this kit was just a slightly different version of the Cherry Wood stain.  Yet, this one has to be seen to be appreciated.  The finish is really quite stunning.  The lugs are Recording Custom one-piece lugs.  Besides the ply difference the only other two things that I can discern to be different is the badge, which is unique to this kit, but also screwed on as opposed to the stick-on badge of that time and the rims which are not the typical 2 mm steel rims but die-cast in either zinc or aluminum.  I really cannot tell.I am not the original owner of this kit.  While it has been in my possession (for about 5 years), I have considered it a collector's item and have not played it.  However, the prior owner(s), have played the kit and there are various scratches here and there.  Since the finish on this kit is on the dark side, the marks are more visible.  For the most part, the drums are in quite good shape, but these scratches do exist.  There is the expected bite marks of the kick pedal on the bass drum hoop.  But that is really all.  The chrome is in excellent shape.  From the pictures that I have provided one might think that these drums are flawless.  Alas, this is not the case, yet the imperfections are mostly minor.I have equipped the drums with Remo Pinstripe Clear on top and Remo Ambassador Clear on bottom.  These are the heads that were installed on the Recording Custom drums of that era.  As far as I know, the kit did not have a special commemorative bass drum head, so I installed an Ebony Yamaha head with center hole, also common from that era.  On the pedal side, I installed a Remo Powerstroke 3 Clear.  The snare drum has a Remo Coated Ambassador on top.  All the heads are in brand new, never been hit condition.The sizes of the drums are as follows,10x1010x1211x1316x16 FT16x22 BD6.5x14 SDThese sizes are also indicative of the time when Yamaha was big into the Power Drums.While I have owned these drums, they have been stored in Levy's cases.  Levy's makes great soft cases.  These particular cases are in brand new condition.  They are constructed out of cordura with 1" padding.  These soft cases are included in the auction.Although this kit is not perfect, it is a unique and hard to find kit.  As well, it is uniquely interesting to look at it.  As far as I know, Yamaha has not reproduced this finish.  If you plan to play it, you can expect the sound of a Recording Custom.  I really don't have a good feel for that since I did not play these drums.  When I received them I did tap on the existing used heads, but that was a long time ago.   Overall, the Recording Custom drums have a controlled sound and are good for studio situations.  There is plenty to read about Recording Custom drums on the Yamaha web site as well as a lot of other review type sites on the internet.  Still, I believe that this kit will always hold its value as a collector's item.If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Good Luck!! If you are wondering about the rather expensive shipping fee ($210.00 + Ins: $35.00), please be aware that eBay is requiring a shipping cost in order to list the item. The cost is representative of a shipment to the west coast which would be worst case scenario. I will try to work out a lower shipping cost to the winner if the actual costs are much different. I am used to buyers requesting shipping costs in my past auction listings, so feel free to ask.  Of course, to avoid this altogether, a pick-up would be acceptable.  Make sure to e-mail me to get the details of how this would work if you have intentions of doing so. Place a Bid!