Beginning Drummer Frustrations!!!!

Hey guys.

As the title suggests, i am what i consider to be a "beginner drummer" as i have only been with my set since this June 2009 and i have a few issues i would like to throw out.

My set is an odd Tama Rockstar that i got for cheap near the beach. Its tom sizes are quite larger than normal, likely 13 and 14 inchers for racks and an 18 floor. This set seems to be maybe 10 years old and had been sitting in a dirty garage for who knows how long. I had the bass drum (which either a 22 or 24, likely 22) skins replaced but the toms remain untouched for now.
1. The first problem is with tuning my toms. Throughout all my efforts i have been unable to make any recognizable difference in the sound of the drum and it only seems like an unattractive boom with little character. I recognize the reality that the old skins on each side of the drums is probably ruined by age and also that the Rockstar set is low end, but is it the ancient skins (that will soon be replaced) or the shell that is the result of such an untasteful sound?

2. Also i experience a rattling sound when i strike my toms and i believe it comes from somewhere in the tightening lug area could i see any help for that?

3. I dont really like my tom sizes. i might consider selling the 18 floor tom and moving the 13 and 14 to become floor toms by the means of a dual floor mount thing and maybe using the money from the floor to purchase one or two toms to mount up top. What do you think? Is there anywhere where i could find a White Tama Rockstar rack tom quickly and what size would go well aside the 13 and 14? Finally, what would be the cheapest way to move two rack toms to a floor tom area? Im tight on cash!

Before you blow a load of coin converting rack toms to floor toms and buying smaller mounted toms etc (12" would suit btw). I would do a search on these forums on TUNING and I'd also swap the heads over. I believe these two factors alone will go a long way to helping you achieve a more pleasant tone. 10yo old heads will not give you the sounds you desire, I'm afraid. If dollars permit....swap 'em all. If not, start with the batter heads on ALL drums.

Along with searching tuning threads here....also look at the youtube videos by Bob Gatzen......they're a great starting point in learning to tune your drums. You may also want to google "The Tuning Bible".....all great tools to help you and they're just a mouse click away!!

Good luck.

Yes. You probably would not get more than $25-50 for the floor tom if you sold it. I would just put the money toward a new set. You might look into a fusion size kit with a regular size bass drum and smaller toms.

Jeff

Fear not young squire, new heads (both batter & reso) will make a huge difference in sound. I can't remember what wood the rockstar is made of, but it does have an impact also. The heads will make it sound better, with the wood, it just won't have as much projection and resonance as a high end kit. Check for any loose screw inside or on the lug casing when you change the heads.

I would definitely recommend trying new heads before buying all new toms. My first kit was a trashy PDP kit. I thought there was no way I would be able to get the toms and the snare to sound the way I wanted. Then I replaced the toms' batter heads with Evans Hydraulics (definitely will reduce your boom problem). It was like playing on a whole new kit. The rattling sound you're experiencing when you strike your toms could just be your snare wire vibrating.

Also, I'm a relatively new drummer myself, so I could be wrong about this, but I've never seen a 14" mounted tom. Seems too large to mount to me. I'd break out a tape measurer on those toms.

buddhasmash said:

Also, I'm a relatively new drummer myself, so I could be wrong about this, but I've never seen a 14" mounted tom. Seems too large to mount to me. I'd break out a tape measurer on those toms.

Click to expand...

Yep....they're around mate. Many guys using mounted 14" toms. One, John Bonham used a 14" as his only mounted tom (even a 15" later on too I belive). Too big for me....I prefer a 14" on the floor, but they are around.

Sound advice so far. I get your frustration with the tom sizes but I agree with Jeff that selling your existing kit & buying a used replacement would probably be more economical and give you a better result. If you can live with the sizes (nothing wrong with them, it's a standard rock set up), I'd go for the head change option. There's probably nothing wrong with the shells and you'd be surprised how good a sound you can get from them. I completely understand your desire to get the kit sounding great. A good sound is very encouraging but you're at an early stage in your drumming journey and I think this kit (properly tuned with good batter heads) will serve you very well for a while yet. It's certainly a whole lot better than the kit I used for the first 3 years. If you really must upgrade, concentrate on the snare & cymbals first. When you eventually change the shell set, you can transport the better stuff to the new kit.

thanks so far ill try to get pics of my set up.

The rattling could be a loose spring in one of your lug casings. Take the lug casings off and pack them with cotton ball material to stop this problem.

If it's just one lug, try striking each drum and holding each lug casing to dampen the vibration to see if you can narrow it down.

i had a tama rockstar kit similar to yours for a long time and i managed to get by with it pretty well. it had toms sizes of 10, 12, 14, and 16 inches. the 14" tom could be mounted on the bass drum, but it was really too big for that. i moved it off the bass drum and hung it from my ride cymbal stand on the right side and that worked well. the 16" floor tom went behind it. you could put your 13" tom on the bass drum, then put the 14" on a cymbal stand and the 18" behind it similar to what i did.

another thing i did was to replace all the batter heads. i kept the resonant heads because they seemed fine. i put evans coated g2s on all the toms, and i put a coated remo powerstroke 3 on bass. i also put a remo ambassador on the snare. that made a HUGE difference! all of a sudden my lowly rockstar kit sounded very decent.

i ended up gigging all over the place with that kit and even did a bunch of studio sessions with it. you wouldn't believe how good it sounds in the studio recordings!