is anyone rocking a 10x14 rack tom instead of 9x13?

mikeo

Senior Member
it seems to make more sense to me, if i wanted a big drum sound for rock that i would go 10x14 rack and 16x16 floor tom... i always thought the 9x13 was not the best sounding tom
 
I got an old Tama Superstar off eBay last year that has a 13x9 & 14x10 rack toms and 16x16 & 18x16 floor toms. I only ever use 1 rack tom and I'd never had a 14x10 before so I did a lot of experimenting with it. Long story short, after going back and forth between the two racks far too many times (usually more than once per practice!), I decided I liked the 13x9 much better. The 14 is fun and has its own charms, but it has to be cranked up pretty tight to avoid just sounding low and dead whereas the 13 can be right in its sweet spot and sound tonally full and not too high.

My other kit (thin Keller maple) has 12x8 & 13x9 rack toms (w/ 15x14 & 18x16 floors) and again, I only ever use one rack, and again, it's the 13 I prefer by a pretty wide margin (the 12 has to be tuned too low for my comfort). Chalk me up as a fan of the 13x9 since I seem to be either trying to tune a 14 high, or a 12 low to get where a 13 naturally sits.

I've heard some suggest that odd-sized drums/cymbals/whatever don't sound as good. I don't know if it's true or not so as a precaution, I do a little conversion: 13" = 0.000178294 nautical miles, which is even so ... problem solved and my drum can sound good again. (3.302 Giga-Angstroms also works)
 
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I love the 9 x 13.
I'd also love to try a 10 x 14.
Looking for an orphan Slingerland that size.
 
I have a 14" tom tom that started out as a 14x12. I never liked it as a floor tom so I had it cut down. To get the lug placement correct, I had to cut it down to 9.5" so it's almost a 14x10.

Long story short, I like the sound of the drum as a rack tom tuned slightly higher than it's lower sweet spot. I can get that Bonzo sound when running it with my 16 and 18 floors.

Unless I'm playing heavy rock I prefer smaller rack toms - 10, 12 and 13s otherwise it sounds like I playing just a bunch of floor toms.

I use it once in a while but it's not my go-to drum sound/size.
 
I have neither. I've never liked 13 inch toms mush- too close in size to the 12 and my 14 is a floor tom. I have had a coule of 14 racks, but always used them in the 1st floor tom position.
 
I have a 10x14, and I like the sound of it a lot, but it's just kinda big for the placement I like.

It started as an 11x14 and I used it for a short while back in 2001 that size. I had it cut down a year or so ago.
I like the sound of it much more at the 10" depth. It has long lugs so it was no big deal cutting it down.
The placement is the main issue I have with it, and I haven't used it, but it's nice to have the "regular size".
The only person who has used it live is my friend Steve Riley (LA Guns) who uses some of my kits when they come to Detroit. He's using it this Friday (18th) actually, so it's funny the thread comes up.

I use an 8x12. I really love the sound. It's fat and beefy, but not too low pitched live through PA's too. For placement it's perfect. I'm so used to the 12 that a 9x13 seems "big", so the 10x14 would feel humongous!
 
I've had my current kit a little over a month and I have a 12x14 rack sitting in a snare basket next to a 26 inch kit with 16x16 and 16x18 ft, I love the sound and I love the way it looks. Just big and beefy. This is the first time I've used these sizes, for the most part I've used a 9x13 with a 24 kick. That said it did take a little while to get use to the placement but now I'm totally comfortable with it.

I think at these sizes 9x13 or 10x14 or 12x14 its all a matter of taste and if properly tuned can all give a great rock sound.
 
For about 20 years, my main sizes were 14x10, 16x16, and 18x16.​
The 14x10 is a great size, but so is the 12x8. 13x9, and 15x12. Get a good quality drum, put good heads on it .... and tune it right ..... you'll have a great sounding drum.​
 
With my main band, I use a 14x10 up front. I love it. When I'm just playing by myself I tend to use a 13x9.
 
personally i am playing a 12 14 20 configuration... the band i am playing with plays a sort of greasy hard rock, and i keep thinking i need more depth in my tom sound... i just thought if i was going to go big i would skip the obligatory 9x13 go for the 14
 
I have both on my vintage Tama Superstars on standard 13x9 and 14x10 sizes.These were the 9600 series and have 6mm 4 ply shells with re rings,before Tama went to 9mm 6 ply shells without rings,so the earlier versions are much more resonant.

Honestly,I like them both and just switch back and forth.

Steve B
 
I have a 10x14 mounted on my bass. its a 3ply maple and it sounds killer.
 
I went to the venue & set up the kit last night for the LA Guns show tonight (at work today and they have a 4pm sound check).

The 10x14 sounds pretty dang cool. Nice feel, good attack and that throaty tone, but man, it was higher than I'm used to!
I have the seat as low as it goes because that's how Steve sits, so that was even worse haha!
The tom is tilted in a bit, but it would take a few days getting used to playing that size tom again!
It's weird that it doesn't look too big, or high up in pics.

Here's how he sets up....good excuse for drum porn pics too :)
The floor toms tilted this way is kinda cool and comfortable.

PB200088.jpg

PB200061.jpg

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Karl, thats sweet! hey it looks like a 12x14 or something in those pics. mine looks so much shallower. I have a gig tomorrow and will get a pic, i have a crappy one i might load in a min.


I guess mine looks deep too in a pic i have, in person it just seem shorter because of the diameter i guess.
Either way, nice kit. I think my vote is for the red one though.
 
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Yeah, it's the angle of the pics because straight on, it's "sqatty" like they always look haha! The long lugs make it look deeper too.

I think the older drums had the lugs drilled just a little further up from the edge, so they even look shorter.
I can see it on 60's 9x13's, like Ringo's 13, the ends of those lugs are closer than they are on mine.
 
that definately looks very cool... the other issue i have is i get sick of tuning my 12 inch tom... 14 always sounds killer... i fiddle with the 12 till i get sick of it... i figure why not start with a 14 that sounds killer and go from there
 
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