This set has just been released by Yamaha, and is the very first of their drum products to be made in Taiwan. It's part of the Road series which is designated 400. It isn't actually the first time that they've had a cheap set, but their other one was made in Japan with a correspondingly high price. I understand from informed sources that it is a great deal less costly to produce instruments in Taiwan, even though the natives appear to enjoy a reasonable standard of living too. Be that as it may, Yamaha have now got all ends of the price spectrum covered with their drum sets. I hesitate to call this a 'cheapo' set, because that tends to denigrate it somewhat. Also, there are several sets on the market which are cheaper these days, so perhaps it's better to refer to it as a budget set. It certainly has many of the features which would allow for a cheaper price, but all in all it's still very much a Yamaha set. Obviously Yamaha couldn't possibly afford to bring out any product which would reflect adversely on the image of their up-market sets.

Anyway, Power Road has five pieces with extra deep toms and bass, hi hat, bass pedal, snare stand and just one cymbal stand.

The bass drum: PYD 422 has a 22" bass drum which measures 16" back to front. As is usual with a set of this price, for cheapness they only fit a total of 16 nut boxes, pressed steel claws and 'T' handled tension screws. (In common with the other Yamaha bass drums though, four square headed tensioners are fitted at ground level to enable it to sit comfortably, accommodate the bass pedal and allow the player to tune those tensioners more easily.)

These cheaper Yamaha nutboxes are not detailed at all. They're simply pleasant looking cast blocks which are chamfered off at their backs. Another 'budget' feature is the metal hoops. They're inlaid with plastic, and have the usual channel formed into them. (They don't supply a rubber block for the bass pedal, but it seems to fit reasonably well without.) The cast, double tom holder block is set well forward and is very substantial, if a little derivative. The spurs too are cast and telescopic with optional rubber or spike tipped ends. The angle adjustment is also cast and has a swivelling, sprung ratchet. These spurs are very good and would put some fitted to more expensive sets to shame. No felt strip dampers were fitted to the bass drum and Yamaha supply a traditional front head.

The tom toms: were traditional diameters — 12", 13" and 16" — but the two mounted drums were a couple of inches deeper than usual. Both the smallest drums have six nutboxes and square headed tension screws per head, while the floor tom has eight. The triple flange hoops seem to be slightly thicker than usual and have a higher profile. In common with just about everybody, Yamaha don't bother to fit internal dampers to these drums. (It seems like a reasonable idea this since very few people use them these days.)

The floor tom had better leg holder blocks than one normally finds on a 'cheapo' set. They're cast, but fitted with an eye bolt inside and a sturdy, if small 'T' shaped wing-nut to lock the double bent leg securely. These legs have rubber crutch tips and are knurled to stop them slipping where they locate into the holder block. A cast tom holder receiver block is bolted to the shell of each tom.

The Snare drum: has a lightweight metal shell with four centre beads pressed in to stop it from buckling. The flanges are bent pretty well for a budget snare drum, with a reasonably accurate edge. They press fit a snare bed into these flanges at two diametrically opposite points to allow the snares to touch evenly. I was a little surprised to see the snares had only 16 metal strands. (I can't really believe that the fitting of another four wires would make the drum any more expensive; and it would improve the breathiness of the sound.)

A part cast On/Off lever is fitted to the drum with a rubberised lever, a plastic screw adjustment, and a screw-locked jaw. The snares are joined to the cast strainer via a plastic strip. This drum actually does have an internal, under-batter-head operating damper. It's made from spring steel, with a large knob fitted outside the shell to activate it. The snare drum too has triple flange hoops, and either double ended nut boxes with square headed tension screws.

All the drums are fitted with Yamaha's own plastic heads. The toms and bass drum are made from a thinnish black film while the snare drum has a brush coated one. None of the heads seemed particularly permeable to me, but I suppose they'd last for a while and you could change them for more up-market heads once they wore out.

The Accessories: to keep the cost down, Yamaha have pruned their stands down a little. They're tripod based of course, but have only rather thin single struts. They have large rubber feet and their legs are held outstretched by the usual pressed steel clamps with a medium sized 'T' bolt. Their best feature is their height adjustment clamps. They're cast, with hinged jaws, a nylon insert, and a quick-release arm which locks horizontally across the unit. (There's a knurled nut to allow you to fine-tune the jaw opening. Once set you should never need to touch this clearance.) All the stands are fitted with these innovations.

The hi hat has a tripod base with a cast, sand-blasted, two piece footplate without a toe stop, the action of the pedal is centre-pulled with a man-made fibre strap. The action isn't adjustable, even so it's a very smooth pedal. There's an interesting flat spur which is joined to the front of the cast frame. It flips completely over to expose a pair of spikes. (A drum key operated screw locks the attachment into position.) The height adjustment on this stand has a memory clamp to help maintain the same vertical position each time. The bottom cymbal cup is plastic and has an adjustment to allow the cymbals to clash together easily. There's a cast clutch, which works well, and quite frankly could belong to any of the different Oriental companies.

The bass drum pedal also had a reasonable feel to it. It's got cast twin posts, with a footplate to match the hi hat's and a manmade fibre strap. A pair of sprung, screw adjustable spurs are tapped into the framework and the action has a cam which attaches the rod axle to the adjustable expansion spring. The beater is held by a cast block which may be adjusted via a pair of drum key operated screws to primarily move the felt beater further towards the drum head.

The snare drum stand is modelled on the old Ludwig adjustable basket one. Three rubber sheathed arms are locked against the drum itself by a capstan-nut which runs up a cast thread. This drum accessory too has the quick-release locking mechanism, which is also fitted with a locking collar. The playing angle adjustment is locked by a cast, sprung ratchet sandwich with a medium sized wing nut. It's a lightweight stand, but it works particularly well. A straight cymbal stand is supplied as standard with two height adjustment stages and two cast, quick release holder blocks. The tilter is sprung and cast with splines inside to lock everything solid and is reasonably long with the usual collection of felt washers and wing nuts. (For an extra £35 you can purchase a boom stand for your cymbal. It has the usual Yamaha quick release mechanism, with just two vertical stages and a ratchet tilter with an 'O' bolt to retain the solid boom. Its tilter is exactly the same as the straight stand's.)

The double tom holder consists of three cast blocks with jaw openings fixed to toms and bass drum, with articulated tubes in between. (A splined ratchet maintains that angle once set, while Memory clamps are supplied to retain all the playing angles and heights.) It looks very like the products of several other manufacturers's. But, it works, so who cares?

I was impressed by the overall sounds of the drums. The bass drum was very thumpy, the toms were clear and round, while the snare drum was crisp as well as thick. Not to labour the point though, more expensive heads would definitely help to give more quality to the sound. But, if corners must be cut, I presume the heads are the best place to start. The shells were ostensibly five plies thick with a reasonably clean bearing edge and smooth interiors. (I say ostensibly because I found it rather tricky to count the bass drum's plies. It certainly seemed to be a little thicker.) Anyway, the individual plies are laid at right angles to each other. There was no information supplied to me on the wood the shells were constructed from — it certainly looked like Ramin but will probably turn out to be some sort of Oriental 'selected' wood. The shells are covered in plastic, and up to now only black or red finishes are available.

In conclusion, the set looks very, very Yamaha (if you see what I mean), and since it sounds pretty good, one would expect it to do reasonably well. Some of the other manufacturers may well find sales of their cheaper sets being eroded. I'll watch the battle with interest!

Yamaha PYD 422 - RRP: £499