Drum stacking...

You hit the things with a stick, mate........continually.

How can stacking them to sit idle possibly be any worse than beating them senseless with a lump of wood?
 
Does this drive anyone else crazy? I guess it isn't bad for the heads since you always see drums stacked at Guitar Center, etc, but I just look at it and think how could that possibly not be damaging or stretching the heads??? Ugh, I hate to see drums stacked like this.

What drives me crazy more is seeing a nice looking purple kit next to a wine red kit that looks cheap.
 
You hit the things with a stick, mate........continually.

How can stacking them to sit idle possibly be any worse than beating them senseless with a lump of wood?
Good point.

Stacking seems to work for Todd Sucherman ;-)
 

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Nope. Seeing them strewn about waiting to be kicked or stepped on would though.
 
I never stack my drums- even when I've stacked two toms on each other without protection, there are hoop marks on the head after an hour. That's damage. Happened with my Superstar (die-cast hoops), happened with my new kit (S-hoops), I'm not a fan. The weight of the drum applied over a long time is much different than stick strikes over a very short time- I'd rather keep my heads in as good of a condition as possible.
 
That's obviously the easiest way to store drums and take up the least amount of space. The circles left on the heads do bug me, though.
 
I don't think it matters for most kits in stores, because the first thing you do is take off the cheap OEM heads and put your preferred heads on there. Unless it's your first drumset that your parents bought you, in which case it doesn't matter because you're going to duct tape the heck out of the heads anyways...
 
You hit the things with a stick, mate........continually.

How can stacking them to sit idle possibly be any worse than beating them senseless with a lump of wood?

^ This.

The weight of the drums, spread out over the circumference of the drums, is essentially a feather compared to the relative force of an average strike from an average drum stick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Gxut0odyc&feature=player_detailpage#t=258

And Simon Phillips showed a long time ago, you can jump up and down on a bass drum head.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wGA1YgQ6zw&feature=player_detailpage#t=152
 
No drums were hurt during this demonstration.
But as a rule, none of them are stored that way. Maybe a tom on a floor tom or a couple toms together. But no more than two at my house. They are on a rack shelving system that has fabric on the shelves.

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drum-set-Christmas-tree.jpg


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I can't find any pictures, but when I stack my vintage drums for long term storage, I always put a piece of wood between the drums so that the weight rests on the rims.
I use either a round piece of wood or two straight boards.

.
 
Do you have to loosen the heads before storing drums long term? With guitars you want to lower string tension so the neck doesn't bow...just wondering if the same is true for drums.

Also in stores when the drums are stacked like that the heads always seem to be super loose.
 
The weight of the drum applied over a long time is much different than stick strikes over a very short time-

Definitely agree with you Porter. The weight applied over a long period of time is different than the stick striking a head. But I'm still gonna argue that it's in no way any worse, given that a stick striking a head causes a far more more aggressive and violent reaction. We've all seen the slow-mo footage of what happens to a drum head when it it struck. Heads stretch.......whether that be from a drum resting on them or continual playing, they all need to be retuned. What's the difference? And more importantly, how is one worse than the other?


Do you have to loosen the heads before storing drums long term?

Some do, some don't. Personally I've never seen any benefits from having done so. All drum heads that have laid dormant for a while will need to be retuned anyway. What difference does it make if they have to be tuned up a little or a lot? The end result doesn't change......they'll still need to be tuned.
 
Do you have to loosen the heads before storing drums long term? With guitars you want to lower string tension so the neck doesn't bow...just wondering if the same is true for drums.

Also in stores when the drums are stacked like that the heads always seem to be super loose.

I've heard the exact opposite for guitars - that you should leave them strung otherwise the truss rod will bend the neck over time.

FWIW - I have guitars that have been left strung and unplayed for long periods of time and have never noticed any ill effects, other than small pangs of guilt on my part.
 
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