Setting up a tom rack

Guitar Guy

Junior Member
Alright, newbie here that just got a kit. I have a Gibraltar rack and I'm trying to set up two rack toms and a kick underneath it. The kick is over to the right underneath the rack (double pedal requires it), and on top are my two rack toms. The left one mounts over the kick fine, but the one to the right of it won't go down as far as I'd like it since it hits the top of the kick. From what I can tell my options are 1) moving the kick outward to make room for it, but that would bring me too close to the kit. And 2) making the whole rack taller and then tilt the tom a great bit toward me.

You guys have any other ideas?
 
The flatter your tom is, the lower it will go. We don't know how flat you have it. For instance, if your tom head is on a 45 degree angle, a flatter angle could gain a couple of inches. What size is your kick and how deep is the rack tom in question? Also I'd like to know the angle of the rack tom as it is presently. Give us that info and we can better guide you.
 
Also, what kind of kit? Each kits tom mounts present different issues when using a rack. I had a rack and a Pearl kit. The pipe arms had to be moved to the outsides of the kicks since the bottom portion descends past the top of the kicks. That's the kind of stuff we need to know also.

And go look at rack setup pics to get some ideas. It will help.
 
Your double pedal shouldn't dictate where your rack goes.
 
Moving the rack up and sitting higher is an option, yeah. I'll see what I can do.

I just measured and my two toms are 11x12 and 12x13. Seems like these are the 'power tom' sizes. The kick is 16x22. It's a Tama Artstar ES kit. Currently the toms aren't at too much of an angle. Not flat, but not pointing right at me either. Gonna fool with it for a few and see what I come up with.
 
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Your double pedal shouldn't dictate where your rack goes.

What I meant is that I could push the kick drum way in front of me so that the toms won't be right on top of the kick. But that would make me sit too close to the toms.

I'm a total noob and don't know what I'm doing if anyone can't tell :ROFLMAO:
 
You could offset the toms. That would be like this, only minus the left kick:

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And obviously with the rack and not a stand.
 
I think we need pics of what you are trying to do, so we can give you options on what to do to help get you comfortable with your kit. A rack may be overkill for a kit that size, and you might just be better off using stands for everything.
I'm a rack guy, so I'm willing to help you with your journey down this road. Here's my kit to give you some ideas of what to do.


 
I'm planning on adding another smaller tom to the rack, so that way I'd have 3 racks and a floor. I'll also add some crashes to the rack so the rack is necessary in my case I think.

So far I've just put my throne up higher, as well as my snare and it's all fitting better. Not sure that's a very comfortable position for my feet, but I'll keep hacking away at this and report back in a little bit...
 
Your fighting with the "drawback" to power toms. That extra three inches, don't seem like much until you put it atop a 22" bass drum.

You might have to get different tom arms, but power toms and racks were big, in the 80's .... and this is a typical layout.
 

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Yep, those toms are sitting even higher than mine are right now. I worked with my kit a little more and it's not as bad as it was. I'll keep hacking away at it and see if I can come up with something else.
 
So far I've just put my throne up higher, as well as my snare and it's all fitting better. Not sure that's a very comfortable position for my feet, but I'll keep hacking away at this and report back in a little bit...

Then that's not a very good position for you. Don't worry about the toms yet. Get your feet, snare, and throne height sorted first. Once you get that comfortable, then worry about the toms. Their importance is at the bottom of the list.

It's like driving a car. If you are too close/far from the pedals and wheel it makes driving more difficult. Now lean the seat back gangster style. Just ridiculous.

Not being comfortable will effect your playing negatively. Sitting at the kit should feel as good as your favorite pair of shoes.
 
Yep, those toms are sitting even higher than mine are right now. I worked with my kit a little more and it's not as bad as it was. I'll keep hacking away at it and see if I can come up with something else.
And that's what ya gotta do ..... keep "hacking" at it. Especially setting up racks. Once they're dialed in, they're sweet .... but I've modified hardware (mostly with a hacksaw and a file) and mixed different brands to achieve correct placement.
 
And that's what ya gotta do ..... keep "hacking" at it. Especially setting up racks. Once they're dialed in, they're sweet .... but I've modified hardware (mostly with a hacksaw and a file) and mixed different brands to achieve correct placement.

Modifying is a definite option.

When I used a rack, what I did when I first got it was set it up empty around the kit. I found it's position first. Once I knew where it was going, I then moved each piece, one at a time, to ensure its location was still where I needed it.

Trying to set up a rack can be a pain. It's great once you've got it, getting there can be a nightmare.
 
After thinking about this, I think I want to do a 2up 2down setup. This will be tricky though because I can either get something like a 10x10 rack tom and convert my 12x13 to a floor tom, or I could buy an additional 14x14 floor tom. What would you do in that situation?
 
.... and convert my 12x13 to a floor tom ....
If by "convert" you mean adding legs to it ..... I wouldn't do that. At least, not at first. I'd get a clamp and hang it there, first ..... and see how you like it. I've run 13" rack toms in that position .... but it's certainly not optimal, for me. I'd go 14x14 or 18x16 .... depending on whether you prefer small sizes or big.

I'm more a 1 up, 2 down kinda guy, but I've run 12x8, 13x9 up .... 16x16, 18x16 down, and that works just fine. But 14x14, 16x16 works well, too. Heck, Ginger Baker made 12, 13, 14, 16 work.
 
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