Ludwig atlas mount for bass drum

AirborneSFC

Gold Member
Hey guys,

I was wanting to replace just one lug on my bass drum so I could mount my rack tom from it. My rack tom already has a mount so no worries there and I could use a simple adapter to get the two working together (adjustable L arm or clamp). Just wondering if a single atlas mount is strong enough to hold up a 12" rack tom from a single bass drum point or not?

Thoughts?

Manny
 
I imagine it's strong enough, but you'll get some serious wobble on the tom, and probably more stress on the kick's Atlas mount & holes. Get two mounts and a rail for the kick, and that will give you a more solid foundation.

Bermuda
 
I imagine it's strong enough, but you'll get some serious wobble on the tom, and probably more stress on the kick's Atlas mount & holes. Get two mounts and a rail for the kick, and that will give you a more solid foundation.

Bermuda

Hey Bermuda, I've seen vids for the ATLAS mounts and one of the things they tout is using it for mounting a ride cymbal off your bass drum. Will using just one produce the same kind of stress or is it OK?
 
A cymbal arm is slightly different, in that it is typically positioned vertically, and with the cymbal mounted/balanced at the top, it doesn't cantilever like a tom does. The cymbal's energy doesn't torque the mount as much. But, I would still use two mounts opposite each other on the batter and reso side, with an "accessory rod" between them, and mount the cymbal from that.

I know, that's some extra pieces buy, but I'd prefer to split the torque between two mounts.

I have some older kits with P-1216-D classic mounts, and a 3/8" L-arm, and they work fine for me. I love the Atlas mounts for toms, but I don't use them elsewhere.

Bermuda
 
You need to use the Atlas Arch for a bass drum tom mount Manny.
If you want to mount a cymbal from a bass drum with Atlas mounts I suggest that you use two opposing Atlas Mounts with a straight 1/2" rod clamped into them to mount the cymbal holder to.
 

Attachments

  • _EPI0064.jpg
    _EPI0064.jpg
    450.8 KB · Views: 5,872
Thanks for the picture, sounds like two mounts for the cymbal arm would give piece of mind.. Shoot, I wonder if you could mount a SECOND cymbal off that using the scissor lift :) Or would that be too much stress?
 
There are almost unlimited options once you have a few mounts in place. Weight and available space are considerations, but the hardware will do almost anything you can imagine (and afford!)

My concern would be the amount of stress on the shell, which is mostly dependent where the mounts are installed. In the case of the black kick pictured in the other post, I wouldn't put too much weight on those mounts. With today's generally thinner shells, I'd think the side-mounted weight would put a lot of sideways stress on the shell. If those mounts were on the upper sets of holes, the pressure would be more evenly distributed across the shell. That doesn't mean put the mounts on top, and position cymbals too far off to the side, or it would be the same tweaking effect.

Just be careful that you don't start getting into this territory:

ludtoms.jpg


Although that's the 6-ply "thick" kick shell, the toms were also thick, and that much weight could not have been good for the kick shell, or its sound. weight-wise, the same applies to too many mounts & arms & cymbals supported at two points on a typically thinner shell.

Bermuda
 
I have mine off to the sides. I've since slid the tom mount on the rail a little more towards the top of the bass drum. I really don't think there is that much stress on the shells and the bass drum sounds fine. As in the directions just don't over tighten the brackets to the shell.
 

Attachments

  • Luddies 001 (Medium).jpg
    Luddies 001 (Medium).jpg
    66.9 KB · Views: 5,280
I have mine off to the sides. I've since slid the tom mount on the rail a little more towards the top of the bass drum. I really don't think there is that much stress on the shells and the bass drum sounds fine. As in the directions just don't over tighten the brackets to the shell.

That is exactly what I am going for. What size bass drum do you have there?
 
Thanks for the picture, sounds like two mounts for the cymbal arm would give piece of mind.. Shoot, I wonder if you could mount a SECOND cymbal off that using the scissor lift :) Or would that be too much stress?
I'm sure that that setup would support both a cymbal holder and a scissor lift as long as you had a tom mounted on the other side to help balance the load on the bass drum.
 
Yea I figured as much.

I also wonder if you're one of those people that has a 4 or 5" hole on the reso side, if you could replace a lug with an Atlas mount and run some kind of L-arm or similar and mount a kick mic into the hole.. saving the need to port around a kick mic stand (at least for those who don't have internal mic mounts or use Beta 91s).
 
Yea I figured as much.

I also wonder if you're one of those people that has a 4 or 5" hole on the reso side, if you could replace a lug with an Atlas mount and run some kind of L-arm or similar and mount a kick mic into the hole.. saving the need to port around a kick mic stand (at least for those who don't have internal mic mounts or use Beta 91s).
You could easily do that with an Atlas mount. The possibilities are numerous. The cool thing is that the drum can be put back as it was originally if you ever sell the kit.
 
I am going to give these guys a go. Even if it is just one for now to have a bass drum mounted ride cymbal. The rail mount looks way cool. Drum companies could offer a factory rail mount for guys who just play one tom that would not add extra holes to their drums.
 
So far I have used the Atlas Anchor system for my spurs on my 68 ludwig bass drum.
I have used Atlas mounts to hang four of my toms on three different vintage kits.
I have used the Atlas Arch as a rail mount on my 50's Round Badge kit.
I have the short version of the Scissor Lift to hold a splash cymbal.
I really like the new Atlas mounting hardware and I have no regrets about using them.
 
After lurking forever, this issue got me signed up.

The use of 2 mounts is ideal but has one drawback. It will require folding the cymbal arm or trying to force the rod out of both mounts for travel. See below.


So after about 4 months of steady gigs, this happened. Thankfully at home.


A MAJOR design defect if you ask me. But I was stuck. So what do I do? Do I go back to DW dogbones? I ordered a replacement asap for the upcoming gig and decide to do this


Now I don't have to loosen the clamp. I just take the rod out of the mount. One concession I made to the weight issue was to relieve my 21HHX dry ride of duty and put a much lighter 20 V ride. It does cause to mount to torque off to the side a tiny bit but after 20 gigs this way, no problems.

The lack of memory locks for the lifts and aerodyne tilters is huge oversight IMO

A lot of stress on very little metal.

But I still love em. I've dropped 2 DW9700 stands from my hardware bag. Winning!


In all it's glory. Five mounts, two lifts, four rods, and one short tilter. Nice and tidy.
 
Back
Top