After a long internal struggle, I did it.

That definitely sounds more like what the underlying issue is. I get what you mean now. I'd say it's mostly a mental thing. I guess you'll have to sit on it for a while and decide if it's for you or not. Everything is personal choice after all and if it doesn't feel right and doesn't feel like it's improving, that's probably a sign it might not be what's gonna work best. Drums are weird like that
Yeah, I've tried. And my soloing didn't get any better. Let's face it, I get hired to play time, so that doesn't change so long as I have bass drum, snare drum, and hi-hat. Toms are kinda' superfluous, I suppose. And the 10 and 14 toms really feel like they're not necessary ;)
 
And today the 10x13 tom arrived! Now this kit feels at home again. Gotta work on mounting the toms in such a way that I can pull the rack in closer to me. I did, for a few seconds, consider drilling the bass drum for a tom mount, but the two toms are pretty heavy, so I think keeping them on the rack is the smart choice here - plus I know how to travel with the rack anyway.

I love it when you sell one thing on the weekend, order the new thing, and have it arrive three days later!

8781587816
 
It kind of feels good to just say "this is it".

I got to that point of not fighting things anymore with certain sizes of drums and snares a while ago too.
I TRIED many times to use other stuff, but, meh. What works for me is what works.
The process is fun though.

I really like my 12x14 floor tom (it has legs, so...), but I've never been a big fan of 14x14's.
I LOVE my 13x15. I recently went back to a 13-15-16 (& a 16 left side). I used that config decades ago, so I guess I'm kinda "back" too.
I like the big sound from the 18, but I can USE the 16 more, it's easier to carry around, and the 15 has a cool, fat, solid tone as the first floor tom. The 15 is definitely low enough if I wanted to use a 12-15 set up too.

I'm really liking the switch from a 26 to a 24 also. I have the 24 on a bass drum riser, so it has a really full sound. Not quite a 26, but it works well with the guitar tones in the new songs we have.
 
I don't have a problem with 14" floor toms at all, but I find most guys that play 10/14 setups tune them way too low for them to be really useful. I've got a couple 14x14s and they seem to sound their best when they're tuned in a low-rack-tom range, probably a good third higher than what I would want as a single floor tom. If I'm using just one floor on a rock gig, it's always a 16, and it does what I need it to do; the 14s get used in jazzy situations, or with a 16 or larger as a pair.

That said, what with all my Rush kit-building stuff lately, 12/14/18 has been an absolutely wonderful thunderous two rack/one floor tom combo...
 
And today the 10x13 tom arrived! Now this kit feels at home again. Gotta work on mounting the toms in such a way that I can pull the rack in closer to me. I did, for a few seconds, consider drilling the bass drum for a tom mount, but the two toms are pretty heavy, so I think keeping them on the rack is the smart choice here - plus I know how to travel with the rack anyway.

I love it when you sell one thing on the weekend, order the new thing, and have it arrive three days later!

View attachment 87815View attachment 87816
NICE! That is EXACTLY the shells I wanted (except for the sizes), but, didn't want to spend the $$$. Those bad boys ain't cheap. So, I'm building my own.
 
I'm old. I remember when the majority of drum sets that I came across were configured 12", 13", 16", and 22" with a 5" or 5 1/2" deep snare. I have a 1975 Slingerland kit that I've owned since the early 1990s. It is 12", 13", 16", 18", with a 22" virgin bass drum. I liked having a second floor tom and liked the big boom of the 18". Carting that 18" around to gigs wasn't too much fun, but I did it until 2008.

In 2008 I bought a brand new DW Collector's Series kit. The DWs like DEEP tuning, it's what they do best. I went with a 10", 12", 14", 16", 22" configuration n that kit. I didn't miss the 18", the 14"- 16" floor tom combo did the trick for me. I did miss the 13" though, and picked up a matching 13" tom later that year. Some times I used the kit with a single rack tom, using either the 12" or 13", depending on my mood. Went I used two rack toms I would sometimes use the 10"-12", other times the 12"-13". I found it great to have options.

This year I bought a new Gretsch USA Custom kit in a 10", 12", 14", 16", 22" configuration. I have a 13" rack tom and a 20" bass drum on order to give me setup options similar to the DWs.
 
I'm old. I remember when the majority of drum sets that I came across were configured 12", 13", 16", and 22" with a 5" or 5 1/2" deep snare. I have a 1975 Slingerland kit that I've owned since the early 1990s. It is 12", 13", 16", 18", with a 22" virgin bass drum. I liked having a second floor tom and liked the big boom of the 18". Carting that 18" around to gigs wasn't too much fun, but I did it until 2008.

In 2008 I bought a brand new DW Collector's Series kit. The DWs like DEEP tuning, it's what they do best. I went with a 10", 12", 14", 16", 22" configuration n that kit. I didn't miss the 18", the 14"- 16" floor tom combo did the trick for me. I did miss the 13" though, and picked up a matching 13" tom later that year. Some times I used the kit with a single rack tom, using either the 12" or 13", depending on my mood. Went I used two rack toms I would sometimes use the 10"-12", other times the 12"-13". I found it great to have options.

This year I bought a new Gretsch USA Custom kit in a 10", 12", 14", 16", 22" configuration. I have a 13" rack tom and a 20" bass drum on order to give me setup options similar to the DWs.
Your USA Customs, with options to fit any scenario, are beginning to give me shell bank fever. Damn you.

I already have Renowns in 10/12/14/16/20...but if I could just have...a 24" bass drum, that would contrast the 20" nicely.

Well, and what about jazz gigs? I gotta have an 18" bass too right?

And what about gigs where a 20" is slightly too small, and a 24" is slightly too big?

I need a 22x18" as well.

Look what you started!
 
Your USA Customs, with options to fit any scenario, are beginning to give me shell bank fever. Damn you.

I already have Renowns in 10/12/14/16/20...but if I could just have...a 24" bass drum, that would contrast the 20" nicely.

Well, and what about jazz gigs? I gotta have an 18" bass too right?

And what about gigs where a 20" is slightly too small, and a 24" is slightly too big?

I need a 22x18" as well.

Look what you started!

I'm so glad that I could help. :D :D :D
 
The reason why I went 10/12/15/1

The 14 is too small. The 16 too big in use as a single tom. The 15 is perfect and the 18 adds the fourth, special note/feel.

I could have gone 12/13 x8” depth but went with the 10/12 x7 depth instead.
12/15/18 makes a nice interval of 3” as well.

I use 22x16 kicks for a while now.

I started 10x8x 12x9, 13x10, 14x4, 16x16 and 22x18 about 27 years ago and went shallower and compacter over the years.
 
And I just went the opposite direction with my Ludwig Natural 3 ply's. Sold my 12x8, 13x9, 14x14. Added a 14x10 ..... so now it's 26, 14, 16, 18.

My Gretsch R.B. kit is 20, 13, 16. Bit odd, but it was a standard catalog configuration called the Name Band back in the day.

The Tama Royalstar's are 22, 12, 13, 16.

One RMV kit is 22, 8, 10, 12, 14 ..... someday I'll find a 16 to go with it.

The other RMV kit is 18, 12, 14

What one kit doesn't cover ..... another does. And I've got Roto toms in 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and two hi-pitched octobans that can be added to all the above.
 
Each time I play a kit with a shallow 10”, and a 14” floor, I feel it’s a compromise to me. The 10 is always too close to the snare drum note and the 14 never low enough.
Bo, I’m with you on that one. The music I listen or play, it’s definitely a low tom sound.
by the way, I see a lot of “new” standard kits (22 10 12 16) where the drummer doesn’t use the 10”tom.
Unmicked, à shallow 10 doesn’t go very far.
 
Each time I play a kit with a shallow 10”, and a 14” floor, I feel it’s a compromise to me. The 10 is always too close to the snare drum note and the 14 never low enough.
Bo, I’m with you on that one. The music I listen or play, it’s definitely a low tom sound.
by the way, I see a lot of “new” standard kits (22 10 12 16) where the drummer doesn’t use the 10”tom.
Unmicked, à shallow 10 doesn’t go very far.
Years ago I had a Tama Starclassic b/b kit with 10/12/16/22 configuration and it felt weird. I kept trying to like it but eventually left the 10” tom at home when I took it out.
 
My main kit has 10/12 rack toms and 14/16 floor toms. It became standard because, you know, Steve Gadd decreed that this will be the new norm, and Vinnie and Carlock also use these sizes, and I think Weckl eventually went this way too. But I grew up with a 16" floor tom. I kept trying to like having a 14" floor tom and a 10" rack tom, but I think both of those sizes are just wrong. I've heard complaints here about the 10" tom not being able to cut it volume-wise. Nobody seems to be complaining about the 14" floor tom, but I think there's really nothing "floor" about it.

So I gathered up the courage and just SOLD my 10x8 and 14x14 toms. This leaves me with a 12x9 rack tom and a 16x16 floor tom. Now I just bought a 13x10 rack tom. Now the kit will be what I grew up with: 12/13/16 with a 22 bass drum. I kept wanting to like the 10/12/14/16 configuration, but a 14" floor tom doesn't seem deep and low enough. And the 10" could be considered either "too quiet", although for Pearl Reference drums, my particular 10" tom was anything 'quiet'. My brain is used to seeing a 16" expanse next to the bass drum and my left leg, so I can't get away from it. When people tell me about using two floor toms, I think 16" and 18", rather than 14" and 16".

I guess in a way since I'm no longer on a vintage kick, I'm still all about vintage traditional sizes, just with modern gear. The standard 12/13/16/22 with snare 5-piece kit has made so much music throughout the history of pop music, it really will cover everything you need it to do. You could cover alot of ground with 13/16/22 as well (or in Charlie Watt's case, 12/16/22) so in this one configuration, unless you're really making a progressive statement, like Mike Mangini or Marco Minnemann, you have everything covered.

What's nicer is that my traveling Pearl Vision kit I use with the Devo band and my main Reference kit will now be the same exact sizes - so I'm not compromising my practice routine. What I practice on is the exact same sizes going out on stage. I guess I can't use the excuse that my practice at home is a little different, hence the clams on the gig? And my other big black Roger Taylor kit stands at the ready for those big loud rock n roll gigs. If I ever complain that I wasn't ready for something musically, you can slap me.
I’m guessing you have experimented with different heads and tuning; The main kit that I use for gigs, in all size venues is a 96 GMS with a mounted 8/10/12 toms and a 14” FT. I am the worlds worst drum tuner and despite how many videos I watch or gadgets come out, I prefer to have someone else do it for me. However, this kit has never let me down....No matter what the venue or studio. In door outdoor; small or large; the tonality, ability to cut with out losing sound mic’d or completely acoustic is great! If I could do anything I might want to throw another mounted Tom into the mix for a bit more diversity; but there are always triggers too. Good Luck, I realize that I am not offering any value to your post; just my thoughts.
 
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