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Drums and Accessories.

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#20524 by Needle in a haystack
Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:10 pm
It would make sence that there should be less vibraiton if they were mounted off of the kick.In a studio i would think it would be a great idea..

#42747 by Bambamvdrumr
Tue Sep 30, 2008 7:37 am
This is actually very interesting. My stage kit is a Ludwig, and before I had the bass drums custom made for the Drumframe rack, originally the toms mounted on the bass drum. Now that I have them mounting separately on the rack, the bass drums and the toms deliver a lot more tone. I also think that the toms give more tone if the mounts for them were outside the drum rather than a pole that sticks inside the toms.

My toms have the older Ludwig mounts that have the pipes that stick directly into the toms. I don't really like this, and would love to switch them, but this would mean having to "re-wrap" all the toms to cover up the extra hole that are there for the pipe mount to fit inside the toms. A lot of work.

I was going to do the same for the original bass drum when I had to remove the tom mount to fit it onto the frame. Removing the mount created about a dozen extra air holes from the legs and the tom mounts, as well as all the screw holes to keep the mounts in place. It Killed the depth of the true bass drum sound, so again, I was going to have to "re-wrap" the bass drum to eliminate this.

I chose to order special custom made bass drums direct from Ludwig specifically with no mounts or legs at all. They sound so much better. I also ordered a brand new 6 1/2 inch deep snare drum, and even though it is still Maple, no matter what heads I use for it, If I don't use a piece of felt under the head, it rings forever.

Aside from that, I also "May-Miked" all the toms, (all the mikes are mounted inside the drums with an added Neutrik locking quarter inch jack on the outside of each tom to connect to the mixer. This makes it so much easier to mike the kit as I really need to for some shows.

I still wish the pipe mounts weren't there. I know the tone from each tom would be so much more full. Not to mention the fact that getting the mike mounted inside the 6 inch tom was a tremendous pain with that big pipe in the way. But I made it fit.

The only other problem is that the drums themselves, are (as I mentioned earlier) "Wrapped" with the design color of the kit. On the older toms, it was easy to see what the plastic wrap does over time. The wrap eventually splits at the lugs. Its been about 3 years since I purchased the new bass drums, and even now, they too are showing signs of the wrap splitting at the lugs.

The floor toms are STILL a problem. They still have all the holes from the leg mounts they used to have. They still give plenty of tone, but it makes it slightly more difficult to tune them. Especially since they are meant to be much lower in tone anyway. The extra little holes take away from the depth of the attack when playing them. I will eventually have them "re-wrapped". However, they still do deliver a lot of tone.

I'll probably eventually go to a different color kit for this same frame. The only trouble is, the bass drums, without the frame, can't even sit on the floor by themselves without finding some kind of externally mounted legs for them. This might make them slightly less than marketable if I want to sell the drums without the frame to start again with a different kit, and again, I would have to have custom bass drums made for the new configuration.

Considering it has been through a lot of shows, and traveled far as it is, it is fine the way it is for now.

It's interesting how tone can play such a crucial part of the overall performance of the drums and the drummer based on the mounting configuration of the kit itself.

Bambam.
#44756 by Drum Jockey
Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:49 am
Personally, I like to have my toms mounted on the bass drum. This is probably because I'm a small person and I like having them reasonably close to me. It also minimizes the amount of hardware that I need to carry with me.

First, let me state that I am NOT in the business of selling drums and I don't work for Mapex. I love their drums and here is one reason why ...

Mapex has designed their higher end kits (pro-M and up) with tom mounts that DO NOT PENETRATE THE BASS DRUM. This is accomplished by mounting a base plate on top of the drum that does NOT allow the actually arm to penetrate the bass drum at all. This base plate utilizes the already present lugs on one side and either two additional screws (in the Pro-M) or a tube lug (in the Saturns and Orions, allowing for a virgin bass to have mounted toms). The Mapex tom mounting system is my personal favorite for other reasons. It does NOT mount at the rim of the drum which would, in my opinion, jeopardize tuning. Instead, there is a system that mounts only at two lugs, allowing the shell to resonate freely as in rim mounted systems. Also, the L-rod on which the toms mounts is hexagonal, not round, meaning that it's less likely to wear out and begin to slip over time. Bravo, Mapex!!!

I have looked at many tom mount systems, and this is my absolute favorite of all. Check 'em out.

#45305 by rendar
Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:12 am
I also have got to hand it to Mapex.
I've owned and played many brands and many configurations and am most pleasantly impressed with the Mapex tom mounting.

#45338 by paul01772
Sun Nov 02, 2008 6:04 pm
My toms are on 2 separte snare stands, I have my toms level with my snare and I couldent find a tom holder that would go low enough haha, I guess im just a fussy person.

#45593 by Ken Allhands
Wed Nov 05, 2008 12:11 pm
Weight of toms and mounting hardware = stress on the bass drum shell = loss of fundamental tone/sustain, plus the possibility of the drum eventually going out-of-round.

There is a reason that old Rogers & Slingerland kits used to have internal brace supports in them...to counteract the shell stress of bass-mounted toms.

The only thing I'll use that tom post for, when I have a choice, is to hang the drum from a rack...and I'd rather use a Drumframe-style "hanging cradle" for that purpose.

#46506 by FGK3
Sun Nov 16, 2008 7:12 am
i like using snare stands for my 12 tom. i also use stand mounts. now if i play a lil jazz/combo gig in a small set gig. i'll mount a tom on the bass drum. that's the only reason ill mount a tom on the bass.

#54641 by sexcells
Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:11 pm
my ludwig has bass mounted toms.... most definitley the cheapest way to go, but ive heard from a couple people that over time it warps the frame of your wood bass

#55007 by pusMonkey
Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:45 pm
I've always played on bass-mounted sets. But as I continue to add more cymbals, octobons...etc, I'm seriously considering switching to a rack mounting system.

I've also found with my Pearl set, it's hard to get the toms low enough without hitting the bass drum and without too much of a gap between toms. The Mapex I had had great tom mounting flexablitiy. I should never have traded it, but I needed a change of color. Silly, huh?
#59049 by DRUMDOGY1
Thu Mar 05, 2009 7:59 am
AS ALREADY SAID MANY TIMES BASS MOUNTED TOMS WREAK HAVOC ON THE BASS, ESPECIALY IF YOUR NOT RUNNIN A FRONT HEAD,THE DRUM WILL GO OVAL ON YOU IN A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME ESPECIALY USIN WOOD SHELLS.IF YOU ARE IN A MORE HUMID ENVIROMENT IT WOULD RUIN A SHELL IN VERY LITTLE TIME AT ALL.IF I HAD TO KEEP TOMS ON MY BASS I WOULD MAKE A SUPPORT THAT CONTOURED TO THE BASS AND IN THE PROCCESS DEVISE A SOUND DEFLECTOR FOR MICING.IT COULD BE A BENIFIT AS FAR AS SOUND GOES AND WHO KNOWS,THE DEVICE MIGHT PICK UP IN POPULARITY AND MAKE A FEW BOLLAS. AS SAID "IF IT CAN BE DREAMED,IT CAN BE ACHIEVED" I USED SIDE MOUNT HANGERS(VINTAGE LUDWIG) FOR A LONG TIME AND THOSE WERE AFFECTING SOUND AND DID START TO LOOSEN UP THE SHELL FROM THE VIBRATION AND THE WOBBLE CREATED WHEN LAID INTO REVERBERATED THROUGH MICS.SNARE STANDS ARE THE BEST WAY TO GO.

#75590 by Ludwigs
Sun Jul 19, 2009 4:06 pm
sexcells wrote:my ludwig has bass mounted toms.... most definitley the cheapest way to go, but ive heard from a couple people that over time it warps the frame of your wood bass


I have had my Ludwig Kit since 1968, with the toms mounted on the bass drum. They perform as good as they did 40 years ago and have never warped the wood bass. Back then they made drums to last and really take a pounding. They sound awesome also!

#76261 by 69OysterBlue
Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:11 am
I can confirm the point in the previous posting that well made drums had NO problem supporting the weight of a couple of mounted toms.

My Ludwig Super Clasic kit was built in late 1968 and I have had an 8x12 and 9x13 perched on the bass for 40 years.

My kit has been set up and played everywhere from North Dakota to Texas, Washington to Ohio, Utah to Minnesota . . in other words almost every kind of temperature and humidity combination you can imagine (in the continental U.S.) and the bass drum is absolutely round and sounds great.

I won't dispute that these mounts might kill a little tone from the bass, but on those older drums, there was relatively little resonance coming from the shell - it was primarily the vibration of the heads that produced the tone.

Anyway, my vote is that on a well built vintage solid shell - mounting on the bass is OK. On a thinner (dare I say "cheaper"?) shell, rack mounting might be a better choice.

#78564 by sanmanco128
Fri Aug 14, 2009 3:14 am
This is basically based on my own opinion, and from pics that I've seen in either Modern Drummer or DRUM! mags, as well as various websites that have drums listed for sale, and last (but not least), from what I've seen posted on Pearl Drummer Forum (www.pearldrums.com):

Personally, if I had a drumset (I will someday, I just haven't picked the day yet, lol, but on a serious note, it more or less has to do with finances right now more than anything else)...I would not have any toms mounted on a bass drum. I'd like to have an option to put the toms any place that I would like to, for comfort reasons, and not be limited to only placing them on a bass drum mounted system. I would probably get some rack system by Gilbrater (typo?), including one of the newer ones, where you can mount a snare drum to it on one side, and a rack tom to it on the other side, plus numerous places to mount cymbals and smaller percussion instruments, such as drumset timbales, cowbells, wood blocks, so on and so forth. I'd then use tom/cymbal mounting systems for the rest - I personally would not use a large rack system to mount 2 rack toms, and 50 million cymbals/percussion "toys" to it, and have regular floor toms where they'd normally go.

But, keep in mind, this is just one guy's opinion.

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