Floor- or Floatingtom?!?!

[Schnitzel]

Hey,

what do you like better, floortoms which stand on the floor or those others toms that hang on a cymbalstand (instead of the floortom).

Is it just because of the size or does anyone have a 16" or even 18" floatingtom?

[harryconway]

With legs, please. Mine are 16x16 and 18x16.

[Ozzy Biz]

I prefer legs, even with 14" FAST sized toms. They 'bounce' a little too much, I prefer the feel of one on legs.

[catlover]

Take a look :
http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25154

[drum.lad]

im a leg man myself i got 14 and 16 floor toms my friend does have a 18inch hanging floor tom and i dodnt really like it

[bermuda]

My 16" tom is on a RIMS mount and hangs from a rack, but that was done for mounting simplicity. It's plenty sturdy and sounds great. The floor toms I use at home are all on legs, and they also sound great.

I guess it's just a matter of personal preference.

Bermuda

[Deathmetalconga]

I'm on an anti-clutter jihad with my set and I have a suspended floor tom, to reduce the floor footprint. The "bounce" is no greater than a large rack tom and doesn't bug me at all. My floor tom is 14 by 14 but it weighs as much as a 16 or 18 incher. I find setup is faster with a suspended tom, but that might not be the case with other kits.

The main advantage to a suspended floor tom for me is there's not the radical "drop off" that occurs with a standing floor tom. Look at my set and you can see how my floor tom follows the same arc and angle as my rack toms, because it is mounted just like them. In a standing floor tom, there's always a big difference in height and angle compared to the other toms. I personally like the look and playability of the suspended tom.

[Mongrel]

well...why not...

First of all drummers have been using toms with legs for probably like 80 years. In that time span some of the greatest drummers in the world-then or now-were recorded for posterity. Not once have I (or anyone else I know) said something like "gee, I really wish Gene Krupa used a supsension mount on his floor tom when he recorded Sing, Sing, Sing!" or how about "gee, too bad John Bonham didn't have suspended toms-his kit would have sounded soooo much better!" Worst of all is how bad Buddy Rich's kits sounded. All because of those darn hard-mounted toms!

I dare say that I have never seen a better example of "the emporer's new clothes" than I have in the floating vs. hard mount 'discussions' here and elsewhere. So, let's see a RIMS system gets you 5 milli-seconds more sustain! Great, now you put a moon gel pad or duct tape on it to take out the ring...LOL.

Wobble? Some of you guys are either wimps or using 7As, because I have not seen ONE suspension mount for a 16" or 18" tom that didn't "wobble". Try doing the opening to Sing, Sing, Sing! and see what I mean. You hit them-they will move. Someone above actually said that large suspended toms wobble less than smaller suspended toms? Ok, on what planet?

Simple bottom line-

I seriously believe that only the most anal drummer would notice a difference between the two systems in most situations. It does make a difference in how you want to set your kit up-obviously. So if there is an advatage to you with a suspended system go that route. If not, just buy the traditional floor tom and move on.

There are hardly enough hours in the day to work and sleep, let alone play, to worry about it.
Oh-to the dude with the four piece Gretsch kit above-NICE KIT!

[brittc89]

I have one set with a suspended floor tom and another that has legs. I love the legs in comparison to the floating mount. I just find it be a pain in the ass to get set up right without pulling my whole set down.

[RUSTE]

Give me a floortom any day of the week. Unless i was using a little jazz kit then your lowest tom (maybe a 14x12) should be hanging or the legs would be massive... Totaly obvious though lol

[Deathmetalconga]

well...why not...

First of all drummers have been using toms with legs for probably like 80 years. In that time span some of the greatest drummers in the world-then or now-were recorded for posterity. Not once have I (or anyone else I know) said something like "gee, I really wish Gene Krupa used a supsension mount on his floor tom when he recorded Sing, Sing, Sing!" or how about "gee, too bad John Bonham didn't have suspended toms-his kit would have sounded soooo much better!" Worst of all is how bad Buddy Rich's kits sounded. All because of those darn hard-mounted toms!

I dare say that I have never seen a better example of "the emporer's new clothes" than I have in the floating vs. hard mount 'discussions' here and elsewhere. So, let's see a RIMS system gets you 5 milli-seconds more sustain! Great, now you put a moon gel pad or duct tape on it to take out the ring...LOL.

Wobble? Some of you guys are either wimps or using 7As, because I have not seen ONE suspension mount for a 16" or 18" tom that didn't "wobble". Try doing the opening to Sing, Sing, Sing! and see what I mean. You hit them-they will move. Someone above actually said that large suspended toms wobble less than smaller suspended toms? Ok, on what planet?

Simple bottom line-

I seriously believe that only the most anal drummer would notice a difference between the two systems in most situations. It does make a difference in how you want to set your kit up-obviously. So if there is an advatage to you with a suspended system go that route. If not, just buy the traditional floor tom and move on.

There are hardly enough hours in the day to work and sleep, let alone play, to worry about it.

Well, then, find another board to discuss the existence of God, world peace, Enterprise vs. Death Star and other really important stuff. There are these things called discussion boards where people with enough disposable time passionately debate stuff like suspended vs. hanging toms. I've seen fistfights break out over which cymbal felts are better.

Now that you bring it up, I think Gene Krupa, Bonham and Buddy would have sounded much, much better with suspended floor toms, but those weren't invented back then. So now you know.

As for wobble, yeah, a suspended tom of any kind will wobble more than a standing one, but I'm used to cymbals wobbling every time you hit them so a little bit of drum wobble means nothing.

And it's better to be anal retentive than anal expulsive, I always say.