Drum Rack or Stands?

And I thank you for it.

No need to create a new thread, cluttered by 15 people who will then say,"Search is your friend, blah, blah..." I searched. I'm still looking for reasons to get a rack.

I found one, thanks to you:

On my home kit, I have 4 hi-toms, and they straddle my snare, so I have no problem doing certain types of tom work with the left hand having wide open access to the left toms.

With my road kit, I only have 2 hi-toms, and they are on the bass drum mount. I have a spare dual stand that could move them off, but I want an in-between solution, and I think I just found it.

I already had multiple other reasons:
Smaller footprint
Less moving (with two person lift)
Easier for non-drummers to actually help (and not just put stands where they think they go)
Everything is already setup (at height, placement, etc...)

So the ability to move the hi-toms exactly where I want them might be the reason I do this.

Thanks!

That's great I'm glad I could lead you in the right direction and yes you made very solid points as to why a rack would be good to have! I'm not sure of how you setup and tear down when on gigs, like drum cases etc but honestly and if you don't have cases, even with all three toms on the main rack I can grab hold of both main poles of the rack lift it and move it myself and that's with the side rack off of course. So I know for a fact it would only take a split second for two to pick it up and move it off stage or where ever you may be. And the side extension is very light on it's own especially when you take the cymbals off. You just have to be careful not to hit the legs of the rack while moving it cause you can shift the position of them easily maybe even with the memory locks on each leg. Tell them to be careful or they'll have a size 13 boot in their ass before they know it lol. ;)

Seriously though, once you set your tom holders where you want them on the main rack as well as cymbal arms and put the memory locks on none of it will move... EVER if it's tight enough. You can also set the angle of the side rack, put a memory lock on the main pole and it as well will also help with quick setup of your side extension if you choose to get that version. There are two a main and then one with the side extension. Yes the one with the side extension will bite your wallet but if you want and try to always buy quality, think about how much all those top of the line cymbal stands and mounts would cost and those start to add up quick as well. Just for 4 Tama Roadpro Booms comes to $300 so keep that in mind when you compare.

Also yes I commend you for actually taking the time to search and to put your question into a currently made thread. I'm not sure why an admin would respond like that tbh but it tis what it tis.
 
I say it depends on how many cymbals and toms you are using and how often you play out or move your kit. I have 9 cymbals and 3 rack toms so I find the my pearl rack to save tons of time in setup, but takes up a lot of space when traveling with it.
 
I know this post has been around for a while. Just wanted to see what you guys think about my setup.

I have a 6-piece Premier XPK, with 7 cymbals (3 crashes, splash, ride, China, hats). All toms are rack mounted. I need to tear down and set up about 4x per week for rehearsals and gigs (playing/rehearsing twice per week, plus setting up again when I get back home).

Just wondering if a rack system would save me time on the setups? The drums themselves are not bad, since they all have memory locks. But I would like to shift my 2 rack toms to the left to make more room for my ride cymbal. Getting the cymbals in the right position takes some time. The other option is using permanent marker on my cymbal stands to mark the heights, boom angles, positions, etc.
 
Hey guys, wanted to bump this to hopefully have my question answered, and also to update. I now have a 5-pc DW that I will be using with my band instead of the XPK.

The DW kick has no tom mounts, so right now I'm using a double tom stand on the left of the kick. I plan to get memory locks for all 3 floor tom legs as well.

I was thinking of adding another double-tom stand for the right side. Put one tom on each stand, above the kick, and then use the DW Dogbone to put a cymbal boom on each side on the unused tom holders. This would reduce the total number of stands I need by 1 (two multi-stands vs. one tom stand and 2 cymbal stands). Cost would be about $240.

But I'm still thinking about a rack. As I said, I have to tear down and set up multiple times per week, 4-6 times, when you count setting up again at home for personal practice. I think that if I had my two rack toms and all my cymbals set up on the rack with memory locks on everything, it would be much quicker to set up. The only thing I would have to "adjust" each time is the position of the kick, FT, snare stand, and hi-hat. A 2-sided PDP rack to do this goes for about $420 (using some of my existing cymbal stand parts).

I wanted to get some opinions on this before I spend the money. Would the rack system really save me time?
 
Your initial setting up of a rack can be extremely frustrating. Instead of just moving stands to get placements right, you have to get all the placements right on the rack itself. This can take hours, or even days. It can be frustrating at first.

That being said, a rack can and will save you both time and space. I had a Pearl rack with 4 toms and 7 cymbals attached to it. Each rack clamp was labeled with a number, as was its coinciding hardware piece. Everything had memory locks and could be set up in about 10 minutes by every member of my band. If it was set up to the side, two people could lift and move it easily into position. And why not, I help move guitar cabinets, they can help move the rack.

For me it just made sense. Less stuff to carry and set up, less floor space required, less things to get just right.
 
Your initial setting up of a rack can be extremely frustrating. Instead of just moving stands to get placements right, you have to get all the placements right on the rack itself. This can take hours, or even days. It can be frustrating at first.

Everything had memory locks and could be set up in about 10 minutes by every member of my band. If it was set up to the side, two people could lift and move it easily into position.
.

Very true. Memory locks will help speed it up, assuming you play on a level surface every time.
 
Your initial setting up of a rack can be extremely frustrating. Instead of just moving stands to get placements right, you have to get all the placements right on the rack itself. This can take hours, or even days. It can be frustrating at first.

That being said, a rack can and will save you both time and space. I had a Pearl rack with 4 toms and 7 cymbals attached to it. Each rack clamp was labeled with a number, as was its coinciding hardware piece. Everything had memory locks and could be set up in about 10 minutes by every member of my band. If it was set up to the side, two people could lift and move it easily into position. And why not, I help move guitar cabinets, they can help move the rack.

For me it just made sense. Less stuff to carry and set up, less floor space required, less things to get just right.

Thanks for the feedback. I believe I will get a rack, as it does seem considerably easier to set up and tear down.
 
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