Yamaha drums were the hottest thing at the time. New shells, tom holders, sound, etc... maybe Roger tried to stay trendy and choose to play it on tour. Same as his electronic pads : the Roland Octapad he use for particular sounds (ie Under Pressure, AKOM, etc...) were THE new standard in 1986.
I don't know what the reason was why Roger changed his drums in 1986...but the more I listen to his set from The Magic Tour, I realize that this was his best sounding kit...especially on Radio Ga Ga from Live in Budapest!!!...This kit was proabably the most expensive kit because of all of the electronic devices that he had...ie the Octapad and Triggers he used in 1986...Roger also needed a module alone for those triggers and octapad because they had to be connected to something to make that MIDI sound that was so prevalent in the Mid 1980's...Cheers!!!
I guess it's all about different tastes, I always hated the sound of the pinstripe heads on that kit, I think he was also triggering some of the studio recorded sounds from a Ludwig kit as well.
I listened closely to the 86 concert and the 82 Milton Keynes gig last night and compared the sound to the current kit. I have to say IMO the current kit has the nicest natural sound but the chrome 82 kit comes across the best in the mix. I think he used to have the heads a little tighter on the older kits and hence a brighter sound.
The current kits sounds wonderful in the solos but does get a little muddy in the mix when everyone is playing.
Then agaion he now has to compeat with two guitarists and major keyboards, not just Fred, so no wonder things get lost.
The Yamaha was a nice studio kit but for me it just wasn't Roger, the hardware was flimsy compard the the Ludwig and the sizes were standard, just didn't seem like Queen some how. And combine that with the fact most of the concert had sampled sounds backing up the natural kit always made me think it just wasn't up to trhe job.
triggering ? I'm not sure. The kit is sounding more or less the same to me all along the show. Maybe it has something to do with the way it is mixed, but i don't think there was really triggered sounds. Maybe something to thicken a little bit the bass drum (quite possible) but that's all for me.
There was the Octapad for the playback sounds.