I praise of the 10 inch tom,..

V

Vandalay

Member
I've always been a 1 up - 1down 4 piece kit guy, so when I bought my 5 piece Tama superstar classics, I figured I'd be playing the 12inch rack, & 14 inch floor tom.
Upon further experimentation, I found that I liked playing the 10 inch better, easier to tune, and easier to lug around that the 12. does anyone else play a 10-14-20 setup?
 
I used to play a 10/14 combo. I would switch out the bass drum between a 22” and 16” converted floor tom, depending on the gig... It sounded really good but now I prefer a tensioned up 8x12 - that’s one of my favorite sizes...
 
Not that I'm playing with anyone with it, but right now, my drums are set up with the 10" up front, 14 and 16 ft.

Also experimenting with the 12" on the left side, though I'm not so sure about that.

I like it, but it would depend on the band/music if I would use it in a band situation.
 
Honestly I've been playing 13/16 recently and have thought about trying out a 10 with it.
 
I play a 22-10-13-16 setup ( Sonor Delite ) and absolutely love it. YMMV.
 
sumdrumguy said:
Go for it! I play 10-13-16-24 with a 90's rock project. It sounds great, and doesn't require the real-estate of a double floor tom setup.
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T_Weaves said:
I play a 22-10-13-16 setup ( Sonor Delite ) and absolutely love it. YMMV.
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The problem is not having a 10" and finding one to go with either of my kits. I've been keeping an eye out.

Edit: Success! I might have found a 10 to go with the kit in my avatar. I'll just have to re-wrap it to match.
 
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Used to have a weekly gig at a church that had a house kit, a 6 piece PDP Birch 22, 16, 14, 12, 10, Snare. It wasn't a huge room and so I went with 22, 14, 10. Really liked that 10" at a higher tuning, really worked at the lower volume I had to play at.
 
10" with a 16" sounds good as well; you can really get that -here comes the bride sort of tuning. Here being the 10 and comes being the 16.
 
Bruce M. Thomson said:
10" with a 16" sounds good as well; you can really get that -here comes the bride sort of tuning. Here being the 10 and comes being the 16.
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Good sentiment, but I think you got that one backwards. Depending on your key, the "Here" being a C and the "Comes" being a perfect 4th (F) above that.
 
Vandalay said:
I've always been a 1 up - 1down 4 piece kit guy, so when I bought my 5 piece Tama superstar classics, I figured I'd be playing the 12inch rack, & 14 inch floor tom.
Upon further experimentation, I found that I liked playing the 10 inch better, easier to tune, and easier to lug around that the 12. does anyone else play a 10-14-20 setup?
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One of my 3 gigging sets is an inexpensive but solid sounding Sonor Player Kit- 20 BD, 10 tom and 14 floor. It is a real workhorse and the 10 tom cuts through the mix quite well when tuned properly. It needs an Ambassador quality batter head and resonant head to sing. No issues with the combo on gigging. I actually prefer the higher pitch sound over a 12 mounted tom for some styles of music.
 
Vandalay said:
I've always been a 1 up - 1down 4 piece kit guy, so when I bought my 5 piece Tama superstar classics, I figured I'd be playing the 12inch rack, & 14 inch floor tom.
Upon further experimentation, I found that I liked playing the 10 inch better, easier to tune, and easier to lug around that the 12. does anyone else play a 10-14-20 setup?
Click to expand...

I do, because I also own that same fusion setup in a rockstar kit. The 12 and 14 are too close together, and so I end up with the 10 and 14 just to put some sonic distance between the two. Putting all three together always sounded weird to me during "runs" across toms. Easy enough to take that into account, but I like 2 tom setups regardless.

To be honest, I keep that kit at other people's houses more than my own. The config isn't ideal for the style of heaviness I often play. Still works fine, though when I do it, just not as ideal as the stand-by 12 and 16.
 
The setup that surprised me the most was a 10-12-14 with the 12" as the first floor tom. I tried it just for laughs but it ended up feeling and sounding pretty good to me. I may have to explore this micro-sized floor tom business a bit more.

On the other hand, a 10" main rack tom has been more or less essential on my kit for over 2 decades now.
 
I think a 10/14 tom combo works well playing outside without mics because the pitch is higher and people can actually hear it as opposed to lower pitched drums that sound more like a "thud." I love the ability to place a 10" tom basically anywhere due to its smaller size, especially when playing with a 20" kick.

With that said, I'll always be a 22, 12, 16 guy...but I totally understand the love of the 10" tom. :)
 
I like the 22/14/10/snare setup. However, I no longer have a 14" tom. At our next practice, I will be using a 22/13/10/snare setup. I also plan to use that setup when we play in low volume situations. The rest of the time, I will go with either 22/13/16/snare or 22/16/12/snare. Peace and goodwill.
 
I use both 8 and 10 inch toms on my 2 gigging kits. I’ve actually stashed a 12 Tom from each of these kits. My 10’s have always been my favorite but I also love 8’s tuned low.
 
Vandalay said:
does anyone else play a 10-14-20 setup?
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Absolutely my preferred 4 piece setup. A 10" tom will likely always feature in my setup choice. If it's a good 10" tom, I love their upper punch + articulation.

I'm currently building an Origin series kit for myself, & it features two 10" toms - 10 x 6, & 10 x 8, as part of a 3 up 1 down configuration (my default melodic rock setup).
 
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