As far as semi-pro maple kits go, the Yamaha Tour Custom wins in my book. Maple kits have always been my favorite and I have played many different lines. Even when compared to the most expensive kits, the maple shells of the tour custom hold up. This kit is a great middle price range for a gigging musician looking to take an intermediate or entry level kit to the next level, but doesn't want to drop a huge amount of money of a custom maple drum set.

I have a lot of experience with Yamaha tour customs because we had one at a studio I used to work at. All the time we were receiving compliments on its sound and look. The Yamaha hardware is untouchable at all levels, so this is a given plus. Even the low end Yamaha's are super sturdy. The toms sounded great, with the warm resonating sound one would expect from a good maple kit. It was the bass drum that really stood out for me. Obviously the bass drum sound relies heavily on tuning, heads, stuffing, and recording setup. This bass drum was creating great sounds no matter what. It was really astounding how perfect the bass and punch produced sounded. Having struggled with so many bass drums in the past, this was a breeze. The snare sounded good overall, again producing the warm maple sound. The only issue with the snare was that the rim clicks were not nearly as pronounced when compared to metallic snares or even other wood snare drums. The sweet spot of tuning just didn't lend itself to the rim clicks for some reason, no big deal.

As a semi pro kit, this is perfect if maple shells are desired. The only kit that can compare in this range is the Taye studio maple. The studio maple's toms sound great, but the bass drum isn't quite the level of the Yamaha. Also, the Yamaha hardware is significantly more secure. Considering that the next intermediate line of drum kits includes the Yamaha stage custom and Pearl export, this is definitely worth shelling out the extra couple hundred bucks.