18"tom as bass drum?

[aydee]

With my new YAMAHA maple customs , I'm thinking of converting my old 1985 TAMA imperial star 18" floor tom to a bass drum., for a tighter jungle kit/jazzy kind of sound. I never use it as a tom anymore, anyway.

Is this a good idea? Any thoughts on the best way to do this? thanks.

[Drummer Karl]

Yes, a good idea imo!
I would like an 18" bass drum for my next kit. I like the open sound of those.
Just a question: How deep is your 18" tom? 16" depth??

Let us know...the sound would really be good.

Karl

[aydee]

ya, its 18x16. dont know how the modification would work tho... hoops, spurs etc.I'd configure this kit with a 10 and a 14 tom with my yamaha copper 14x3.5 piccolo

[PreppieNerd]

You would probably want some kind of bass lift. You may not have to get all new spurs. I have seen an 18'' converted tom to bass with bent spur-like legs that went into the original tom mounts.

[aydee]

was it stable? sound good? By bass lift do you mean those hig hig kind of raisers with the extension for the pedal ?

[harryconway]

Do a google search on "bass drum lift kit", and you'll get plenty of options. A drummer bud recently tried to convert his 18" floor using wood hoops, and found his lugs would not accommodate T's and claws (tension rod angle) without putting spacers underneath each lug. With a lift, your floor tom remains a floor tom.

[Mendozart]

I just picked up the DW riser and this thing is heavy duty with tons of adjustments to get the height and angle just right. I did a living room rehearsal with it and it didn't budge an inch, and I was laying into it. These pics are before I changed the heads out. This is a 16x18 Floor tom.

Originally Posted by Mendozart

I just picked up the DW riser and this thing is heavy duty with tons of adjustments to get the height and angle just right. I did a living room rehearsal with it and it didn't budge an inch, and I was laying into it. These pics are before I changed the heads out. This is a 16x18 Floor tom.

This is the best option. There are also other types of cradles like this that you can use. This way you don't have to alter the tom in anyway. DeathMetalConga even made his own riser. It's somewhere in this thread http://drummerworld.com/forums/showt...light=ironwood

The most I would personally do is get some wood hoops, and try and find some bass drum tension rods that fit your lugs. I'm sure that the steel hoops would still sound just as fine, but I'd personally do it just because for aesthetic reasons.

[aydee]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

This is the best option. There are also other types of cradles like this that you can use. This way you don't have to alter the tom in anyway. DeathMetalConga even made his own riser. It's somewhere in this thread http://drummerworld.com/forums/showt...light=ironwood

The most I would personally do is get some wood hoops, and try and find some bass drum tension rods that fit your lugs. I'm sure that the steel hoops would still sound just as fine, but I'd personally do it just because for aesthetic reasons.

thanks, guys, will get a start on this project and let you all know how it goes. How much does this DW contraption cost? What kind of heads would you reccommend? would you port the reso if you were'nt miking it? For a 16 depth, i'd imagine you would to beep it from booming too much?

[aydee]

Originally Posted by fourstringdrums

This is the best option. There are also other types of cradles like this that you can use. This way you don't have to alter the tom in anyway. DeathMetalConga even made his own riser. It's somewhere in this thread http://drummerworld.com/forums/showt...light=ironwood

The most I would personally do is get some wood hoops, and try and find some bass drum tension rods that fit your lugs. I'm sure that the steel hoops would still sound just as fine, but I'd personally do it just because for aesthetic reasons.

thanks,great link to DeathMetalCongas thread. That kind of cradle would be ideal,no messing with lugs, spurs etc..... but me no metal magician: )... wonder how secure the footpedal is on his rig?

[Mendozart]

I picked up my DW cradle for $75 used off of a Ghostnote member. I'm still experimenting with heads, so I'm not too sure on the ideal set-up. This isn't my primary bass drum so it's not a priority right now. I actually just ordered the DW leg kit to make it a standing floor tom instead of a hanging one.

[aydee]

Originally Posted by Mendozart

I just picked up the DW riser and this thing is heavy duty with tons of adjustments to get the height and angle just right. I did a living room rehearsal with it and it didn't budge an inch, and I was laying into it. These pics are before I changed the heads out. This is a 16x18 Floor tom.

thanks for the pics!

[jazzin']

I actually converted a 16" floor tom into my present bass drum. I used a little converter I think is called a 'Jungle Gig' or something similar. It's much less bulky and still very sturdy. You don't need to take it off or anything like that. Similar to a normal bass drum the spurs just fold in and the little riser is small enough that it doesn't cause any issues in transport or size.
As for the sound, it is fantastic. A very nice tone which is possible to push to either a very bassy low tone or a higher pitched tight tone. The heads I've got on at the moment are a bit too thin though and I'm looking at getting some Fiberskins for it to bring out a more mellow, dry tone. I've put a thin sheet of fabric folded a couple of times into it, resting lightly against the head. I can't stand the thud sound of a typical 22" bass drum and this has an actual pitch and beautiful open round tone to compliment the toms while still retaining the low end of a good bass drum sound.
Another huge benefit of course is the transport of it all. One thing I've never been able to stand about drumming is the lugging around of tons of stuff. This way I've got it down to two toms, snare and bass drum with my hardware and cymbal bags. One trip with a friend and quick set up time has the whole thing done and out of the way in a short amount of time. Great! A big perk of it in my opinion.
Just make sure you try out various skins, dampening and tuning techniques to get the absolute best out of it...if you're into dampening that is. But, if you can get it right you can have a lightweight bass drum that costs a lot less (or well, in your case, nothing), is easier to transport and sounds just as good.

[aydee]

[quote=jazzin';341685]I actually converted a 16" floor tom into my present bass drum.

Well, thanks, you're right, the whole idea was to cut the bulk down on the transport n setting up, but I also love the idea of having an option, sound-wise, to my new yamaha AMNs (22,16,14,12,10,8).
What I did , while I was figuring out the head options on my 22" YAMAHA, was to lay flat the old TAMA floor tom with its old pinstripe heads tuned really low ( &wrinkly) and hook on my pedals, put the 10" tom on a holder with a piccolo snare, just to see what it would sound like. I loved the whole feel of it! ( the tuning was awful, but I could see the potential..the kind of tone you were talking about) )

So if I can set all this up, it would be great to have two completely different kind of kits.

Let me know how you make out with the fyberskins and if you dampen them at all.

[harryconway]

Yes indeed, within your big Yamaha kit lives a smaller "jungle" kit. I drive a Ludwig 26, 15, 16, 18 kit. I'm gonna add a smaller rack (12" probably) so my sub-kit will be 18, 12, 15. Two kits in one. Lift kits rock.

[aydee]

Originally Posted by harryconway

Yes indeed, within your big Yamaha kit lives a smaller "jungle" kit. I drive a Ludwig 26, 15, 16, 18 kit. I'm gonna add a smaller rack (12" probably) so my sub-kit will be 18, 12, 15. Two kits in one. Lift kits rock.

that bass drum could do some serious damage!!!!!!!! ( My TAMA is a 24x14)