Toms mounted on Bass drum or cymbal stand

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donnyf

Junior Member
Bought another drum set ( DW Collectors) that Im going to use for giging and thinking of getting a double tom bass drum bracket as opposed to using the cymbal stands.
I think it makes setting up much faster at gigs . Im pickie on tom angles , heights and location . the set I use to gig now is a bass drum mounted toms, also have a stay at home set that has cymbal mounted toms . would I get just as fast setting cymbal stand toms in future ?
Any thoughts ? Some gigs I need to set up quickly and anything I can do to make it painless helps. I do use presets on stands but these are heavy stands and go into a large
SKB Drum Hardware Case. brackets can get moved ?
 
This is such a personal thing. We've all grown up with toms mounted on the bass drum, but as soon as other options came up, lots of people choose their way. When I got a bass drum with no mount, I tried that "mount on cymbal stand" bit with one tom and one cymbal on a stand and that was a major PITA. I hated it because even with memory locks (it was Pearl stuff), I never got the set-up exactly the same just by the floor positioning of the stands. So I went to a rack, and that's great - but now I deal with this big thing I have to carry around - I have to be motivated to break it down and pack it, and then set it up again at the gig. This is all leading me back to just installing a tom mount the bass drum and making life easier.

But you have to choose what's best for you. I've tried them all.
 
While "virgin" bass drums seem to be all the rage....I've heard too much GREAT music live and recorded with bass drum mounted toms to buy into it being superior in any measureable way.

Personally I don't think it looks better (worse actually imo) or sounds better enough to give up the simple functionality of the bass drum mount.

But, like Bo said, to each his own....so what YOU think is all that matters.
 
Personally, I can’t notice any sound difference in toms mounted on cymbal stands vs bass drum. I usually run my toms off a cymbal stand, just because I feel it gives me the most versatility in terms of positioning. Your mileage may vary.
 
In regards to a virgin kick vs. not, I've heard about the only way you can hear much difference (if at all) is if you are a person who plays with their kick drum tuned up with very little if any muffling (think a lot of jazz music). If you are muffling a kick drum, it doesn't make any difference. For me, it's always been a mental thing. Here I am with this big, beautiful drum. If I have my choice, there's NO WAY I'm going to bore a big hole in the top of it for a tom mount that I may or may not use. I just don't like the look of a huge chunk of hardware on top of my kick anyways, whether or not there's a hole. YMMV.

With that said, if you can get away with a kick drum-mounted tom mount and like it, then go that route if the hole and hardware are already there.

I guess to best answer your question is to try both if possible and see which one you like. Take convenience out of the question and ask yourself which situation allows you to play better? If you play a killer 2-hour set with a band, but you mounted your toms on cymbal stands and it took a little longer initially, maybe it was worth the extra 2-3 minutes of adjusting you needed to do. Also, keep in mind they make memory locks too if you go the cymbal stand route.
 
I either mount from the bass drum or use a snare stand but I'm a one up guy.

Mounting from a cymbal stand feels like a compromise between perfect cymbal placement and tom placement.

Remember for gigging mounting from a bass drum with memory locks is easier than mounting from a stand.
 
Another vote for the tom tree. Simple. Effective. Time proven. No hassle quick, unchangeable heights and angles from the last gig. I actually prefer the look of a good tom tree, even better than the virgin bass drum look, go figure. The racks out there today, even the curved ones, make me want to puke up in my mouth a little.
The ONLY upside IMO to a VBD is how easy it is to change a split BD head at a gig. I can't tell the difference in sound between virgin and slut bass drums, they sound exactly the same to me. So give me the convenience. Flying toms off stands....trust me, when you are pressed for time and you can't get the drums positioned just right, it's stressful. Stress is not even on the list of things you want to deal with at gigs. Not to mention if the floor is not exactly level, you will have to readjust everything for the floor. Not something you want to discover when you have 30 minutes to set up and get ready to perform. Get the tom tree.

Getting one tom right is easy with stands. Getting more than 1 tom positioned and angled just perfectly, makes it exponentially harder because you have the cymbal height and angle to factor in as you adjust your tom positioning. No thank you. You don't get that extra hassle with a tom tree. I dogbone a cymbal stand off my tom tree...so it does triple duty. I love a centered crash over the bass drum. Try doing that with a virgin bass drum. It looks stupid. For what they do, tom trees are the most weight, space and time efficient way of racking your toms, period.

You don't use a rack, as you stated in your OP. If you decide on a rack, plan on a total rethink of setting up and transporting the kit, and I guarantee it will take you longer to set up, at least initially. This is when you will be questioning your decision for wasting so much time and energy on a problem that never existed. I would sidestep the whole rack issue, unless you are the type of person who likes to unnecessarily complicate their life.

I implore you to keep the tom tree setup if only for the fact that I really detest puking up in my mouth.
 
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I have been with cymbal stands, then a rack, and now drilled for a double tom holder. I don't gig but will attest to set being faster on the double tom mount. I take my toms off to change heads, and when I put them on they are in the same exact spot. And I see no difference in sound, but my oscilloscope is in the shop!!!!
 
I like both but now I have a virgin, my first, bass I use cymbal stands or snare basket . I like the independence with all my toms-I can move them anywhere-so, of course, I've been experimenting. For some reason toms have been annoying me and I don't want to look at them (I'm sure my parents felt the same about me.at times) so I've moved my 13 in to a snare stand right beside my 16 in floor-so it's like a floor-and out of my way. When I use the 10 in tom I put it on my hi hat stand and on left so out of my sight. It gets me moving around to-which I'd gotten things so ergonomic I never twisted or turned at all (I'm old I need to move around more). I like the hi tom so close on hats for a change. Toting them around I'm sure I'd like the toms mounted on my bass for convenience-I can just pick it up out of the bed of my truck and set it down ready to go.
 
I'm in the same boat as you. I love NOT having the weight of DW's double tom mount on my kick, but I also love the clean look of a virgin bass drum. BUT, I've been considering a double tom mount rather than using DW's 3000 double tom stand.

After going back and forth on it, I've decided that IF I drill the kick drum, I'll go one of two routes:

1) Tama's MTH1000 double tom holder and use PDP tom mounts on my DW STMs to deal w/ the more narrow ball arms, OR
2) I go with DW's rail mount, mounted on the shell where I can use two DW tom arms on it, or possibly go with dual rail mounts -since I can decide where on the bass drum shell to mount them. A rail doesn't have to be mounted on the top, in the center. Theoretically, I could do one each at the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions. Just think of it, 2 more handles to move your kick drum around.
 
I've done both and I've decided I prefer mounting the tom on the bass drum. For the applications I use my drums in, I can't hear a difference. I'm not saying one doesn't exist, just that it escapes my ears. Which leaves me with convenience considerations, and mounting on cymbal stands was very inconvenient for me. Your mileage may vary.
 
I prefer to mount my one up tom on the bass drum. But my Saturn V kit does not have a tom mount, so I use a Gibraltar tom stand. I have considered adding a tom mount to the bass drum, but I cannot make myself drill into the awesome finish. Peace and goodwill.88007
 
There is nothing wrong with drilling a virgin just make sure you do it safely and your post will fit in the hole you're drilling.
 
Drumolator said:
I prefer to mount my one up tom on the bass drum. But my Saturn V kit does not have a tom mount, so I use a Gibraltar tom stand. I have considered adding a tom mount to the bass drum, but I cannot make myself drill into the awesome finish. Peace and goodwill.View attachment 88007
Click to expand...
Mapex makes a no drill tom tree. It comes with 4 lugs, which you replace the top 4 lugs on your bass drum, and those new lugs have provisions for 2 rails which supports the tom tree. I used them on 2 of my Guru bass drums and definitely recommend them.
 
larryace said:
Mapex makes a no drill tom tree. It comes with 4 lugs, which you replace the top 4 lugs on your bass drum, and those new lugs have provisions for 2 rails which supports the tom tree. I used them on 2 of my Guru bass drums and definitely recommend them.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but it is too expensive to me. Peace and goodwill.
 
Strange isn’t it? I see so many working drummers looking to shed pounds from their live setup (myself included). In terms of weight savings in the hardware bag, a tom mount that clamps to a cymbal stand makes the most sense. Yet, seems like few like that method, including me. I use a one up one down setup with a virgin kick, and I switched to a snare stand for my 12” tom. I like this much better than mounting from the cymbal stand. Added plus is the tom is now as stable as the snare and floor tom; the drum doesn’t bounce like it did on the cymbal stand. If you like 2 over the kick, then I say drill that drum!
 
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It's interesting to me that the "vintage sound" that so many people are trying to reproduce was recorded on drums that were:
Usually mounted on the bass drum with tom brackets attached to the shell
Had less than perfect bearing edges most of the time
Made of wood, nobody, cared about what kind
Oftentimes mis-matched in the studio
Had steel hoops, nobody cared what kind
 
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