Hanging vs. Floor Tom

MntnMan62

Silver Member
I have a 5 piece kit that I love. Yamaha Stage Custom in Sapphire Blue with the high tension one piece lugs. Tom sizes are 12", 13" and 16". I would like to add a 14" and would prefer it to be a 14"x14" floor tom. But, I have the oppotunity to add a 14"x12" hanging tom as well as a 10"x9" small mounted tom. I'm thinking of going for it. I'd have to buy a 4 piece kit and then sell the duplicate tom and bass drum. But then I'd have almost the perfect 7 piece confirguration. To make it perfect would be the 14x14 floor tom. And for that I would just keep my eyes out for one and if I found it I'd buy it and then sell the 14" hanging tom. Am I making sense or just being a blithering idiot?
 
I have a 5 piece kit that I love. Yamaha Stage Custom in Sapphire Blue with the high tension one piece lugs. Tom sizes are 12", 13" and 16". I would like to add a 14" and would prefer it to be a 14"x14" floor tom. But, I have the oppotunity to add a 14"x12" hanging tom as well as a 10"x9" small mounted tom. I'm thinking of going for it. I'd have to buy a 4 piece kit and then sell the duplicate tom and bass drum. But then I'd have almost the perfect 7 piece confirguration. To make it perfect would be the 14x14 floor tom. And for that I would just keep my eyes out for one and if I found it I'd buy it and then sell the 14" hanging tom. Am I making sense or just being a blithering idiot?
Do it mate! (y) :D
 
Thanks Al. I'm just waiting to hear what the "rock bottom" price will be with shipping.
 
.... then I'd have almost the perfect 7 piece confirguration. To make it perfect would be the 14x14 floor tom. And for that I would just keep my eyes out for one and if I found it I'd buy it and then sell the 14" hanging tom. Am I making sense or just being a blithering idiot?
Perfect sense. Do it.
 
my profile pic expresses my opinion perfectly but if you can get it for a fair price, why not. it’s not like you only have 1 chance to get a tom and you have to choose between hanging and legged.
 
I too say go for it. But I'm the opposite of Fritz regarding hanging vs. not since every last one of my toms is hanging, including the 18. :eek:
I would have preferred floor toms, but that's just the way they were when I bought them used in the late 80's and it worked out to my benefit once I got a rack that wouldn't allow for 3-legged floor toms anyway.

I'd love to see the Yamaha kit when it's complete. I just love those high tension lugs. (y)
 
Go for it no rules apply.
The Rogers Top Hat configuration came with 2 12” same depth.

My Ludwig kit came with a 16x14 hanging concert tom.
I immediately went looking for and found a 16x16 floor.
 
To make it perfect would be the 14x14 floor tom. And for that I would just keep my eyes out for one and if I found it I'd buy it and then sell the 14" hanging tom. Am I making sense or just being a blithering idiot?

Hanging versus floor almost always comes down to "Am I using a rack?"

Because if you are already using a rack, why wouldn't you use it for the 14?
 
If the spare bass drum is 20”, keep it for those occasions where you might need a quieter/smaller kit.
 
Hanging versus floor almost always comes down to "Am I using a rack?"

Because if you are already using a rack, why wouldn't you use it for the 14?
I concur, but are you implying the inverse- absence of a rack necessitates a 3 leg FT? I have a kit with 10 & 12 on a stand with a crash (which I see quite often), aux snare mounted from a stand with a small china, and a hanging 14 FT on a stand with the ride; the latter stand is more stable.
 
I concur, but are you implying the inverse- absence of a rack necessitates a 3 leg FT? I have a kit with 10 & 12 on a stand with a crash (which I see quite often), aux snare mounted from a stand with a small china, and a hanging 14 FT on a stand with the ride; the latter stand is more stable.

Not at all. I imagine that vacuuming under the kit is a bit easier without FT legs in the way.
 
I have a 5 piece kit that I love. Yamaha Stage Custom in Sapphire Blue with the high tension one piece lugs. Tom sizes are 12", 13" and 16". I would like to add a 14" and would prefer it to be a 14"x14" floor tom. But, I have the oppotunity to add a 14"x12" hanging tom as well as a 10"x9" small mounted tom. I'm thinking of going for it. I'd have to buy a 4 piece kit and then sell the duplicate tom and bass drum. But then I'd have almost the perfect 7 piece confirguration. To make it perfect would be the 14x14 floor tom. And for that I would just keep my eyes out for one and if I found it I'd buy it and then sell the 14" hanging tom. Am I making sense or just being a blithering idiot?
Maybe you get lucky like I did and find a 7 piece for $300 like I did.... I still kept my 5 piece and my electronic drums so now I have 3 kits...
 
I added legs to the last "hanging floor tom" that I had. It made it much easier to manage. Peace and goodwill.
 
My starclassic performers came with a 12 by 14 hanging Tom. I used it like that for a little while and decided I preferred legs on mine. So I ordered some legs I think they were Gibraltar brand put them on and the never looked back. One thing positive about mine though was there were no brackets on the shell to hang the Tom. The tamas hang by the rims so there's not a bracket hanging off of my shell that does nothing or extra holes in the shell.
 
I got the best used kit for the best price I could afford, and it came with a hanging low tom, a 16x14. My previous floor tom has legs.
My hanging tom is very stable, so to me it's almost the same as the tom with legs, but imo it sounds much more matched with the other toms in resonance and decay.
Plus, imo, it looks neater and it does make vacuuming easier, as noted above. Also, as noted above, my hanging low tom sounds very good. :)
 
Back in the 90's I ordered a new Yamaha Recording Custom kit (22/10/12/13/14/16) and decided to add RIMS mounts and fly everything. Honestly the drums sounded great and it opened them up a bit more but I came away from that decision with mixed emotions. Strike one: all the extra heavy-duty stands and hardware I purchased for the sake of stability added a lot more extra weight to lug around. Strike two: all those stands to hang my toms from impeded on some of my cymbal set up space and I had to go to heavier cymbal boom stands for them be to be positioned correctly without toppling over (I refer you back to Strike one: even more weight). Strike three: all the toms required oversized cases to accommodate the RIMS mounts. Honestly, I'm glad I did it at that point as an educational process, but I decided on my next kit the floor toms would all have legs with Pearl R-40 floor tom isolation mounts (at a fraction of the weight and cost, yet they open up the floor toms sufficiently). I seriously doubt that I would ever fly any of the larger toms again in the future.

In the OP's situation it makes sense to go ahead with the purchase and use the 14 X 12 floor tom, even if you initially need to fly it. If you don't find a matching 14 X 14 floor tom and you like the sound of the 14 X 12 the simple solution is to just add legs to it.
 
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