Suspension mounts on "floor" toms?

[jay norem]

Every time I see a beautiful picture of a drum kit I notice that the floor toms still have legs. The small toms, the mounted ones, of course, are on suspension mounts. Now, if suspension mounts noticably improve the sound of a drum, then why not put them on all the drums?
I can see why you wouldn't need one for a snare drum, but the inconsistency between mounted and floor toms puzzles me a little.
Yes, great big rock-n-roll toms are heavy, no doubt. But I see this even on the little "bebop" kits. For example, I was looking at the Gretsch site and their "bebop" kit has the 14" tom on legs. Seems like a relatively small drum like that could be suspension-mounted.
My 13" low tom is suspended. It saves the hassle of dealing with those legs. With a suspended tom all you do is lift it off its mount, bang it in the case and that's it. Floor tom legs are a hassle to deal with, and there's all that extra hardware on the drum.
Well anyway, it's something I've been wondering about.

[trkdrmr]

I can't say that suspending toms always improves them in every way. In fact, larger toms like 14 and 16" have enough weight on them, that a lot of the effect is loss, due to the pressure on the rims.

Having a floor tom coupled to the floor will provide boundary reinforcement of the low frequencies. It has always been my perception that a floor tom on the floor has more low end than a suspended tom. The suspended tom may have a TOUCH more sustain, but not always.

In another thread, drumtechdad posted some nifty floor tom feet They have a hollowed center and that decouples the floor tom a bit, and provides a spongier suspension.

So, IMO, suspending the tom can be for looks, convenience, positioning, but not always a grand improvement in sound.

[harryconway]

Every time I see a beautiful picture of a drum kit I notice that the floor toms still have legs...... Having played 16x16 and 18x16 floor toms for the better part of.....gawd, I'm old....42 years, I don't think I've ever run into the notion that my floor toms "need" more sustain.
I can see why you wouldn't need one for a snare drum, but the inconsistency between mounted and floor toms puzzles me a little.
Yes, great big rock-n-roll toms are heavy, no doubt. Indeed, take for example the Ludwig "modular" years. The 16x14 and 18x14 toms came suspended, the full length floor toms had legs. But I see this even on the little "bebop" kits. For example, I was looking at the Gretsch site and their "bebop" kit has the 14" tom on legs. Seems like a relatively small drum like that could be suspension-mounted. In this instance, I think the "retro", or "traditional" look is the classic style being sought. But yes, 14x14's are easy to rack mount. First time I saw one rack mounted was 1971.
My 13" low tom is suspended. It saves the hassle of dealing with those legs. With a suspended tom all you do is lift it off its mount, bang it in the case and that's it. Floor tom legs are a hassle to deal with, and there's all that extra hardware on the drum. Over half the time, I don't use cases, or bags, or collapse the legs. Flip the floor upside down, and into the car/van/truck it goes.

[somedrummer]

Gauger percussion offers floor tom suspension mounts for around $100. I'm going to use one on the next kit I build just for the sake of consistency. I agree with Harry though, you don't often hear of people looking for more resonance out of their floor toms.