Are 14"x14" and 16"x16" Floor Toms too heavy to turn into mounted toms?

brassoman · #1 12-28-2009, 04:48 AM

I own a Gretsch Catalina Maple, 6pc, Evans EC2 Clear on toms, and I love the sound of it. However, the floor toms are not what I am looking for. Even on a nice carpet, their sound still sounds dead, and I've tried thousands of tuning setups and still cannot get that nice low end out of them. Today I tried lifting them from the floor and hitting them and boy did that sound good! Here's my problem: would using a pair of Gibraltar GTS mounts (like these) and using a double tom stand like a Tama Stage Master, or even buying separate L-rods and using clamps to join it to a cymbal stand be a good idea, or would it be too heavy for even the sturdiest stand? The maple shells themselves are really light, but adding the hardware it gains a few weight, minus the legs, it loses some, too. I need to know this before buying because I'm in a budget. Or is there any less expensive way to turn them into mounted floor toms? Thank you!

harryconway · #2 12-28-2009, 07:28 AM

That Gibraltar system would work fine. That's their version of RIMS.

MusiQmaN · #3 12-28-2009, 08:13 AM

I wouldnt hang toms if hours of tuning, chaning heads and even change hoops doesn't work out I converted my hanging tom in a rim floor basket and the sound really opened up. Im going to do the same with my 14".

You can get different types of suspention baskets like Gauger's Dynamount and Worldmax DSS system.

Althoug on a rim the rack tom is hanging on 4 pressure points at one side instead of actual free floating. In the basket it really floats.

A carpet btw dampens and warms the sound instead of "enhancing" the sound. If you want a clear and honest sound it should be on a hard floar, linoleum or plates like Auralex s Hooverdeck or Drumplates.

Dipschmidt · #4 12-28-2009, 08:17 AM

Can someone tell me the pro's and con's of mounting a tom opposed to have the tom sit on it's legs? I've never played on mounted toms (floor toms, of course) so I was wondering what the sound difference is.

Pocket-full-of-gold · #5 12-28-2009, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brassoman

I own a Gretsch Catalina Maple, 6pc, Evans EC2 Clear on toms, and I love the sound of it. However, the floor toms are not what I am looking for. Even on a nice carpet, their sound still sounds dead, and I've tried thousands of tuning setups and still cannot get that nice low end out of them. Today I tried lifting them from the floor and hitting them and boy did that sound good!

I own the same kit mate and the rubber stoppers on the floor tom legs are inadequate to say the least. Have you tried swapping the rubber stoppers over to a larger/thicker type? I swapped mine out for Pearl rubber FT feet and the difference was remarkable. You could go one better and check out suspension feet too.......either option is a distinct improvement on the standard rubber IMO. Well worth checking out if you don't want to spend too much on a mounting conversion.

audiotech · #6 12-28-2009, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pocket-full-of-gold

I own the same kit mate and the rubber stoppers on the floor tom legs are inadequate to say the least. Have you tried swapping the rubber stoppers over to a larger/thicker type? I swapped mine out for Pearl rubber FT feet and the difference was remarkable. You could go one better and check out suspension feet too.......either option is a distinct improvement on the standard rubber IMO. Well worth checking out if you don't want to spend too much on a mounting conversion.

I've heard this from many Gretsch Catalina maple owners about their floor toms. Just get different feet for the floor toms, that will give you more isolation between the legs and the floor itself for much better resonance and sustain. I for one would never try to mount these toms from rack mounts. They're much too heavy and would vibrate and swing around every time they were hit. I recently played a Tama Starclassic Maple kit with 14 x 11 and 16 x 14 rack toms and I thought it was almost comical the way the swung around on the stand. The same goes for a Yamaha Maple Custom Absolute kit with stand mounted large toms. I had a choice between those and the kit I bought with floor toms mounted on legs. I'm really glad I got the floor toms.

Look around at some other drum forums for more information about the Gretsch Catalina floor tom problems that a lot of people are experiencing. It's an easy fix.

Dennis

KarlCrafton · #7 12-28-2009, 06:46 PM

I would second the suggestion of the Pearl Suspension rubber feet.
They do make a difference, and they are a lot cheaper than RIMS and a stand.

Good luck with it.

denisri · #8 12-28-2009, 07:08 PM

Before you go thru all these changes..I suggest you have someone else play your drums while you stand 20 to 25 feet away. You may be surprise at the sound of your drums!!!!!
Given the fact that at least half the drummers in the world have floor toms with with legs..that provide lots of bottom.
Note drums sound very different from behind the set than to the audience. Lots of the highs drop out very quickly over distance.
Also you may want to change your floor tom bottom heads to thicker ply! 14x14 and 16 x16 are big guns(cannons) you should be getting lots of bottom.
Denis

RollingStone000 · #9 12-28-2009, 07:12 PM

you may want to look into this tip from Bob Gatzen. I've tried it myself and have noticed the differences.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C4Jnl9PYKQ

Polymetrix1618 · #10 12-29-2009, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brassoman

I own a Gretsch Catalina Maple, 6pc, Evans EC2 Clear on toms, and I love the sound of it. However, the floor toms are not what I am looking for. Even on a nice carpet, their sound still sounds dead, and I've tried thousands of tuning setups and still cannot get that nice low end out of them. Today I tried lifting them from the floor and hitting them and boy did that sound good! Here's my problem: would using a pair of Gibraltar GTS mounts (like these) and using a double tom stand like a Tama Stage Master, or even buying separate L-rods and using clamps to join it to a cymbal stand be a good idea, or would it be too heavy for even the sturdiest stand? The maple shells themselves are really light, but adding the hardware it gains a few weight, minus the legs, it loses some, too. I need to know this before buying because I'm in a budget. Or is there any less expensive way to turn them into mounted floor toms? Thank you!

There's an inexpensive option. Buy some Pearl Air something floor tom feet or even better, put your floor tom legs on foam blocks.

drumtechdad · #11 12-29-2009, 05:44 PM

Yes, the Pearl R-40/3 Air Suspension floor tom feet will make you forget all about suspending your floor toms. They work that well. At about $10 a set, they were the best money I ever spent on my kit.

KarlCrafton · #12 01-01-2010, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drumtechdad

Yes, the Pearl R-40/3 Air Suspension floor tom feet will make you forget all about suspending your floor toms. They work that well. At about $10 a set, they were the best money I ever spent on my kit.

Last night, I found a set of these I had a while ago, and tried them again on one ft.

I went to the store today and got 2 more sets for my other two ft's on that kit.
It made a pretty big difference in the mids opening up and a fuller sound out of the ft's.
They sounded really good before, (no problems before hand) but the suspension tips really made them open up fully.

That Gatzen vid was cool--I watched a bunch of them too.

Any problems with a dull sounding floor tom, get a set of these and they'll make a difference.

BillBachman · #13 01-01-2010, 06:57 PM

Yes, those pearl suspension feet make a word of difference. I just changed out my floortom feet with those and am psyched on the major change. More resonance, more sustain...

rmandelbaum · #14 01-02-2010, 05:26 PM

My DW kits have the 14 and 16 on tom stands. I went to legs. I found them to be to unstable. I had to have the legs in just the right position and I really could not hang a stick bag on the drum, it would pull them over, am very happy I switched. there is also less weight in my hardware case to lug around now.

Here are the best prices I have found on rims style floor tom mounts.

https://www.drumfoundry.com/c-12-isolation-mounts.aspx

KarlCrafton · #15 01-06-2010, 08:37 PM

These made such a nice difference (after a few days playing) that I ordered 5 more sets for my other floor toms.
They really opened up the total sound of the drum. Pretty cool for such a simple little thing.

zambizzi · #16 01-06-2010, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarlCrafton

These made such a nice difference (after a few days playing) that I ordered 5 more sets for my other floor toms.
They really opened up the total sound of the drum. Pretty cool for such a simple little thing.

So THAT'S why my Reference floor tom sings like it does. I'm going to pick up 2 pair of these for that new batch of drums on the way. ;) Thanks Karl.

MikeM · #17 01-07-2010, 01:10 AM

I've been seeing a lot of chatter about these lately... I've also been complaining about my floor toms not opening up (esp. the 18"), so I think I'll give these a try.

Edit: Ordered!

brassoman · #18 01-11-2010, 01:16 AM

Damn, I finally bought myself a pair of these and my floor toms growl, and they are a million times easier to tune, too! Thanks to everyone who replied, this was the solution i had been looking for!

KarlCrafton · #19 01-11-2010, 03:20 AM

Great!

20characters..........

rsosborn · #20 03-04-2010, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brassoman

Damn, I finally bought myself a pair of these and my floor toms growl, and they are a million times easier to tune, too! Thanks to everyone who replied, this was the solution i had been looking for!

Figure this in as well. Your floor toms resonate at a longer frequency wave
than the other drums do. To sustain, they need to physically vibrate in a larger range of motion to sustain their "note". That's why those legs work so well.