Hanging Toms vs. Floor Toms - Yamaha Hexrack

Drumwiz

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I'm scoping out my new kit and have decided on the new Yamaha Absolute Hybrid Maple in 22 12 13 14 16 sizes with 2 up 2 down, but I'm torn between getting traditional leg floor toms for the 14 and 16, or going with hanging toms.

I have a Hexrack II system that I'll be using, and I figure why not utilize its full potential. I mostly play smaller clubs right now, and to tell you the truth I hate setting up floor toms, and sometimes I just don't care for the feel of them. I'm usually playing rock, hard rock, pop rock tunes. The hanging toms depths will be a bit shorter, but I don't think that's going to make a huge difference.

Would love to hear some opinions on the subject!
 
Nothing wrong with suspended toms, though I prefer legs. I've used both over the years.
 
I'm still traumatized from snapping a hanging Tom arm and I think I prefer the sound.

Good point about live setup though - fitting legs isn't much fun.
 
Like they say-this is only my opinion-but...

Given the chance, I'd go traditional floor tom every time. My next "upgrade" to my Tama Starclassic kit will be to mount standard floor tome mounts on both my 14" and 16" suspended toms. I'm excited at the thought actually...and the bonus of loosing the extra weight of the Starmount is icing on the cake for me.

I'm using a Gibraltar rack on my setup now and even with the rack I don't care for large suspended toms at all.

Honestly, I just don't see loosening 3 wingnuts and extending 3 legs as any kind of drawback compared to hanging it. I have always left my floor tom legs attached and even with the legs attached the tom has a smaller profile than it does with the Starcast mount so transport and setup to me are pretty much a wash...

But that 's just me.
 
I have had both, and I prefer the smaller footprint, easier setup, and sound quality of floor toms over hanging toms.
 
Ditto, same here. I've done both but I'm also back to traditional floor toms. Glad I tried the hanging floor toms but I would never go back to them again.
 
Floor toms every time. Memory locks are your friend.

Definitely, definitely, definitely. Though, not having cases- I don't even have to take my legs off! Might not even with my case idea, which is to use a Taye GoKit multi tom bag- would hold my 15" floor tom fine with the legs rotated 90 degrees (plus, at 30" tall, it'll hold my 12" tom, snare, and throne top as well!
 
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Hanging floors all the way for me!

Floor toms with legs is just current fashion. I remember in the 80's when it was embarrassing to turn up with floor toms on legs. I had one on my 70's sparkle finish premier kit with standard sized shells with rerings, which was hideously embarrassing. All the cool kids had yamaha 9000's or tamas with hanging floor toms.

Now of course, that premier kit would be uber cool and some 19 year old college kid would love it. he'd probably put vintage heads on it and fiberskyn reso on the bass drum :)

I think to claim one sounds better than the other is a bit of a stretch. I never have issues getting mine flat either. memory locks and decent clamps:)

On a rack - whats the point in having a side to it and then having floor toms on legs??

I have tons of stuff on my right side and ZERO stand bases fighting for space;)

Yammies are the ultimate in hanging floors, its their legacy, do it!
 
No opinion on my part since I've never used or owned hanging floor toms. What I have noticed though is that the Yamaha floor toms- due to their shallower depth- seem to have a more fundamental tone. I'm diggin the 16x15.
 
I've used both extensively. hanging a 14" floor tom is no big deal, but a 16" is starting to get a bit bouncy. Depending on the suspension system used, I'm not a fan of the potential strain either. I use a series 1 Hexrack for a number of purposes, but usually prefer to go floor toms with legs.

There is one system I've used that isn't often discussed, & that's a hanging floor tom with 1 leg. It's a great solution to supporting larger floor toms within a rack context. You get the best of both worlds with that setup :)
 
There is one system I've used that isn't often discussed, & that's a hanging floor tom with 1 leg. It's a great solution to supporting larger floor toms within a rack context. You get the best of both worlds with that setup :)

I've thought of that before but never had the opportunity to try it.
 
I've had both but prefer legs for the convenience. All the kits I own now have floor toms with legs. All the times I had hanging floors I just found it a pain in the butt because of the stand. I can understand wanting to mount as much as possible on your rack. That makes sense. But if you ever plan on using a smaller setup without the rack it's just less of a hassle to have legs, in my experience.

As for the depths the difference in sound should be minimal. I saw Weckl playing those Hybrid Maple drums last night and they sounded phenomenal. I also got a close-up look at them and they look beautiful. Great choice.
 
I'm not going to argue about the sound - I think both can be made to sound great. But I did try living with a rack at one point in my life and it was a major PITA to haul into small places, then attach things to it. In most instances, it never saved me more time, and was negligible on saving space. I think the rack idea works best when you play a kit like George Kollias or other monster kit player. I think if you don't play a huge kit, I'd stick with the legs. I use memory locks on the legs (I have two floor toms) and use these nice stick-on labels (one on the leg memory lock, and one on the floor tom leg bracket) and just match labels during set-up. My floor toms are up in about a minute for both.

But it's totally up to you.
 
I have a hex rack II and recording customs. I Use the 14 and 16 with legs and wouldn't go any other way. Can't beat the stability or sound and if you want to pull out a small four piece you still can
 
Im interested to know why some people think floors with legs sound better?

How can it possibly be so?

Funny - I remember in the 80's people saying hanging floors sounded sooo much better and floors on legs were like basketballs in comparison. I still maintain its pure fashion:)
 
Im interested to know why some people think floors with legs sound better?

How can it possibly be so?

Funny - I remember in the 80's people saying hanging floors sounded sooo much better and floors on legs were like basketballs in comparison. I still maintain its pure fashion:)

I don't think either sounds better. Put an isolation mount on a hanger or put Pearl feet (or an isolation mount) on a legger and you should have a roughly equal sound, unless the brackets for the leg'd one are absurdly high-mass. The supposition that one form is vastly superior is likely a construction of placebo effect and personal preference. I simply find one with legs to be much easier to move and position, especially since I don't have a rack.
 
Im interested to know why some people think floors with legs sound better?

How can it possibly be so?

Funny - I remember in the 80's people saying hanging floors sounded sooo much better and floors on legs were like basketballs in comparison. I still maintain its pure fashion:)
It's not fashion, it's choice. I have two racks & have used mounted floor toms extensively, but I also go with legs on floor toms too. Legs offer more positioning options, & also offer the possibility of use with a smaller set when the larger one isn't appropriate or needed.

As for sound difference, isolation comes in many forms. In our R&D trials, we found that the mass of a suspension system is an issue in terms of shell resonance, almost no matter how disconnected it may be from the drum itself. Currently, there's no such thing as compete isolation, only degrees of. The mass associated with the suspension system on larger drums can often be more detrimental than comparable floor tom legs. How the drums react depends on the construction. In lighter shells, or otherwise more resonant forms than ply shells, the differences can be quite substantial. So yes, I can both sight examples where floor tom legs retain more shell resonance, & have the R&D results to back it up. Equally, I can sight examples & identify R&D results that offer the reverse. As always, it's not a single factor, it's a number of features coming together to effect a result.

I hope that helps :)
 
Im interested to know why some people think floors with legs sound better?

How can it possibly be so?

Funny - I remember in the 80's people saying hanging floors sounded sooo much better and floors on legs were like basketballs in comparison. I still maintain its pure fashion:)

Back in the 80s no one had thought about floor tom feet that help float the drum. Gauger RIMS came up with a system to suspend a floor tom (and even bass drums) but the system was large and unwieldy (they wouldn't fit in their cases with that stuff installed). When Pearl came out with those feet that help float the floor tom (Tama did the same), that put both systems (legs, and hanging) on equal terms.

However, there were still alot of people around (like me) that could actually tune a drum and make it sing no matter how it was mounted. You learn how to work with what you have and make it happen. This is why some people even question isolation mounting in the first place - they can make their drums sing regardless.
 
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