Absolute(2002-2009)

You can select the shell material from maple or birch. Hard, dense maple delivers a warm tone with outstanding sustain and produces a versatile tone that blends well with a wide range of musical styles, making it popular with drummers from all over the world. Birch, remarkably easy to work with, this hard, finely grained wood offers excellent mid and low sustain with solid, well-defined high range.

At Yamaha, the process of manufacturing drum shells begins with selection of the materials. Select woods are cut into sheets with precision cut diagonal ends. The plies are fit into a form and hammered into place by a highly skilled craftman. The angled ends allow the craftman to finlely adjust the ply length, thus maintaining proper tension. Ply joints are staggered by 120-degrees and hammered into place in the same manner. An air bag placed inside of the shell and inflated at high-pressure puts even pressure on the shell's inner surface creating a perfectly round shell with uniform thickness and excellent durability. This is the Air Seal System, a process that has been in use at Yamaha for over 40 years.

Our designers have created a low mass, attractive lug cashing that, with a few turns, detaches from a metal "button bolt" attached to the shell. Off goes the head, rim, lug, and tuning rod in one unit. No more fishing for missing rods or washers. When, seconds later, the head and assembly is reattached, the lug fastens onto the shell bolt. A few turns of the rod, and the head is ready to play. With an absolute minimum of hardware touching the shell and with the fixed bolts attached at nodal points*, the shell is now able to vibrate freely, *Nodal point mounting is patented by the Nobel & Cooley Drum Company.

The secret of our YESS system is twofold: First, it provides minimum contact of hardware with shell; second, it connects that hardware at the nodal point* of the drum_he point at which it will not interfere with shell vibration. Nylon bushings on rod clamps afford maximum stability. The YESS system permits toms to be placed close together, and does not interfere with quick head changes. On floor toms, our YESS system offers wide open sustain while keeping toms stable under the heaviest strokes. * Nodal point mounting is patented by the Noble & Cooley Drum Company.

A tribute to Yamaha design technology, our original ball mount and clamp has gone through very few modifications over the years. A large, ultra-hard resin ball sits in an attractive chromed housing, held in place with a titanium ergonomic wing bolt. It is the ultimate drummer-friendly mount, offering non-slip positioning virtually anywhere the drummer can imagine. Additionally, it permits tuning of the bottom head by simply rotating the drum.

Historically, most drums have been vented with a single air hole. Yamaha engineers studied bass drum dynamics and, with the Absolute Series, provided the customary top vent hole on the player's side, and then added holes located around the front end of the shell. The additional air holes permit additional air, the result of "internal combustion", to escape, providing a distinctly more comfortable beater action, more controllable on the rebound. The reduction in beater vibration and backlash is particularly noticeable when an intact head without a hole is used on the audience side.

The result of years of refinement, Yamaha bass drum legs prevent bass drums from creeping forward, in most instances without carpets or tacky underlays. Quick and easy to use, Yamaha bass drum legs keep bass drums rigid and immovable, even under the hardest pounding. Thicker tubing, combined with drum key operated height adjustability and easy-slide metal points, as found on our cymbal stands, provide enhanced stability.

When using a rack system or for musicians who don't want to obstruct the tonality of the bass drum by mounting a tom, the "R-Version" Bass Drum has been introduced to the Absolute Series. Now you can experience every bit of that pure bass drum sound.

A pipe post stabilizer on the pedal side of the bass drum provides height adjustment and positions the beater so that it strikes the center of the bass drum batter head. A memory clamp on the pipe slides into a special receiver on the bottom of the bass drum, allowing for quick set up and exact height retention.