Yamaha Club Jordans - evil?

[Randy]

I haven't heard much discussion about these Yamaha drums. They sound and feel great! Is it just the price tag that scares people off? I'm about to enter the world of cocktail drumming and I'm stoked about it. Mostly jazz/latin and a little R&B. I have Roland V-Drums for other stuff and a set of Premier Genistas. BTW - Cocktail Angst is awesome! Thanks for any comments and the forum.
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[John Mettam]

Hey Randy,<br>
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The Yamaha Club Jordan is a fine instrument. As a matter of fact, I believe it is largely responsible for the recent popularity of the instrument. As far as I know it was the first production cocktail drum from a major compnany since the early 70's. The design was updated to add thefunctionality that most older cocktails were missing (side mounted snare, hi hat mount) to make it attractive to modern drummers. Does anyone remember when it was first introduced? My guess is around 1995.<br>
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I believe the main complaints about the Yamaha kit are the price (~$1200 as opposed to ~$800 for a Phattie) and the 8" snare which has a limited sonic pallete. <br>
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You can find them used for less (I passed one up for $600 once and am still kicking myself) but it is still an investment. Most people that I talk to about cocktails love them but are not prepared to make a large investment on what for them is a secondary instrument.<br>
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Also some people want different sizes or colors and go the custom route. Others want to stick to vintage. That's the beauty of the cocktail kit, there's no standard and plenty of variations!<br>
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Enjoy<br>
<br>
John<br>
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[Randy]

Thanks, John. Well, I received my Club Jordan's and the only thing evil are the heads that shipped with them. I've got to get rid of the 15" head's ASAP. I've had great luck with Evans on my other acoustic kit. I'm going to try something thick on the bottom and maybe a coated ambassador on top. Any thoughts on tuning for the top head? I'm very happy with the 8" snare sound so I'm just interested in getting a good floor tom sound for the 15". If I go real loose on the bottom head is there any particular tuning interval that works well for the top and bottom? I'd like to use as little muffle as possible.
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[Randy]

My first gig with the Club Jordan's is now history and by all accounts a huge success - from general loading ease to audience/bandmate feedback and sound (not to mention, looks). I ended up putting Aquarian double thin coated on the bottom of the 15 and Evans G1's on the tops of the 15, 10, and 8 - NO MUFFLING. This combination works very well for me. It was an outdoor gig and the drums met the challenge. The band now won't let me use anything else for our jazz/lounge gigs! Another drummer sat in for a couple of tunes so I could hear the drums out front and they sounded even better than being right on top of them. Now if I can just find a nice carry case....
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[nosenhodge]

I'm a recent cocktail convert having purchased the jordan kit. Anybody have a good case solution? I'm still lugging these around in the boxes they shipped in but would like to find a case--hard or soft--to accomodate all three drums. Any ideas?
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[palacki808]

About the yamaha club jordan drums, I must say that YES the price does steer me away. Especially when there are much cheaper options. If the price would drop I may consider them. They are quality drums, even yamaha's cheaper line drums are of great quality (and used to be made of the same wood combo as the club jordan at half the price). I really think the price issue is why people call them evil.

As far as bags go if you look on the internet, you'll find that there is a gig bag set made specifically for the club jordan drum kit. Last time I was looking around www.musiciansfriend.com had the best price I had seen at that point.
-Joe

[buchhojl]

There's another string here somewhere on cases for the Jordan. Let me just reiterate that I'm very pleased with the cases Yamaha makes specifically for these drums(Set-YCJB.) They are well-made and conveniently sized. They are obtainable for significantly less than suggested retail. Try Musician's Friend, or, (where I got mine) www.InterstateMusic.com. I actually phoned them to order... I'm not sure they show up on the web site.

[Bas de Jager]

2 days back I played my first gig on the Club Jordan (pink sparkle, how many of you play with this color?). I didn't order the 8" snare, but bought the 12" Peter Erskine signature snare, which also has the Yes system mounting. A realy great snare with much more diversity than the standard 8". Does anyone use other snares as well?

[dova]

Hello: I just received my set last night and am trying out different tuning options. Yes, I got the pink sparkle and what a classy finish (they look sort of copper/pink). I went with the 8" snare and 10" tom because the 15" main drum as a snare is awful ,except for brush work. I may give Roy Burns a call at Aquarian Drum Heads for some advise as he helped me with head suggestions when I converted an 18" Ludwig floor tom into a" Killer" Bass Drum. I'm looking forward to my next jazz gig to try these out but in the mean time will be wood shedding to get all the variables down. I've played timbales before in a Latin Jazz group but I know this will be a little different with the pedal issue. Will probably have a bar stool for backup. Cheers and glad to enter the cocktail world

[John Mettam]

Hey Dova,

Welcome to the Cocktail Drum World!!

I hope you like it. You'll have to let us know what it's like as you get used to playing your new kit. Feel free to write a story for the Lounge if you like.

keep us posted!

John