Tom mounting options?

D

DenK

Member
Do you prefer mounting Tom's to Bass or stand? Does any company stand above the rest with mounting hardware?
 
My opinion: Modern toms with integral suspension mounts work well with either bass-drum-mounted arms or actual tom stands designed specifically for tom mounting. The worst of all mounting options is mounting toms in a snare stand, which dramatically reduces (or eliminates) the drum(s) resonance. Several companies have developed suspension tips for use on a snare stand's arms. I've heard that these devices stop the problems encountered when using snare stands as tom stands. I have no personal experience with these.

GeeDeeEmm
 
I've been mounting my rack toms (usually just a 12" or 13") from cymbal stands for years. I find that I get better sound isolation and better positioning, especially when using larger bass drums. I've never enjoyed using a snare stand for toms since I couldn't ever seem to get it in the position I want and, as gdmoore mentioned, I feel like it decreased sustain by too much for my taste.

Now, as to your second question, you will find many opinions on that. I'll just say that I am a fan of Yamaha mounting hardware and cymbal stands for their ease of use, dependability and durability.
 
With all the great Tom suspension options like the Inde mount, I have to question the whole current obsession with virgin bass drums. I prefer the simplicity of a nice tom mount on the bass drum. Using a dedicated tom “basket” stand means more stand bases to fiddle with and saps resonance. My lightweight hardware makes using a clamp mount on cymbal stands iffy. Is this a conspiracy on the part of drum manufacturers to reduce their costs and sell more hardware? Don’t recall price dropping when the Tom mounts stopped being standard. Haha.
 
gdmoore28 said:
My opinion: Modern toms with integral suspension mounts work well with either bass-drum-mounted arms or actual tom stands designed specifically for tom mounting. The worst of all mounting options is mounting toms in a snare stand, which dramatically reduces (or eliminates) the drum(s) resonance. Several companies have developed suspension tips for use on a snare stand's arms. I've heard that these devices stop the problems encountered when using snare stands as tom stands. I have no personal experience with these.

GeeDeeEmm
Click to expand...
It is true that a heavyweight double-braced snare stand could sap all the resonance, but a lightweight snare stand (like the DW Ultralight, vintage Ludwig stand that comes with an Acrolite, or Tama Classic stands) work very well for holding the rack tom. They don't dampen the resonance at all!
 
IBitePrettyHard said:
It is true that a heavyweight double-braced snare stand could sap all the resonance, but a lightweight snare stand (like the DW Ultralight, vintage Ludwig stand that comes with an Acrolite, or Tama Classic stands) work very well for holding the rack tom. They don't dampen the resonance at all!
Click to expand...
Well, I'm simply relating my own experience. I've been working on what kind of layout I want to have with my new 7-piece Slingerland kit. But, I haven't decided on what kind of bd-mounted tom holder I want to use, so tom stands were my only option. As an experiment, I attached my 10/12 toms to the tom stand, and mounted the 13" on a mid-weight snare stand.

I was astounded by how the snare stand muted the tom. The snare stand option took a very ringing, resonant tom sound and transformed it into a THUD. (The snare stand arms were left very loose.)

GeeDeeEmm
 
markdrumz said:
My lightweight hardware makes using a clamp mount on cymbal stands iffy.
Click to expand...

I hear that! I haven't moved to the lightweight stands yet but I've heard of other guys replacing one section of pipe in their lightweight aluminum stand for a same diameter section of a steel stand. Then they clamp the accessory clamp to the steel section. I do this with my regular steel stands, too. I only have one section of one stand that has ever had a multi clamp attached to it, therefore, it is the only section of any of my stands that is janked up from a clamp. I always clamp it to the very top of that section so that part takes all of the abuse and it's never seen.
 
If you want both toms over the bass, then a tom mount on the bass drum is the easiest way to go. It’s very complicated to clamp Toms to the cymbal stands and try to get them a the right height, and angle and right balance. If you have only one rack tom, or if you want off-set toms, the virgin bass drum is OK.
 
I definitely prefer having the tom mount on the bass drum. Quicker, accurate, repeatable setup, and also works on occasions when I only use one cymbal and don’t have a left side stand.

Yamaha is a good system, and the sizing is such that if you don’t need to mount 2 toms, you can get a single tom mount with a longer tube and it will fit straight in the bass drum. You can also put the tri-mount on a cymbal stand and mount toms from there without having to buy any extra hardware. Versatile.
 
I prefer mounted on the bass drum for simplicity and weight saving. That way I can use light weight cymbal stands because they're not also holding toms.

There are 3 basic modern systems; L-arm of varying thickness, Yamaha straight hex or Pearl-style tube arm. All work well for me.
 
Morrisman said:
Yamaha is a good system, and the sizing is such that if you don’t need to mount 2 toms, you can get a single tom mount with a longer tube and it will fit straight in the bass drum.
Click to expand...

Very true! Here are both tom arms side by side. The one on the left will go right into the BD receiver for a nice, clean setup. The one on the right is the standard Yamaha YESS arm.

Yamaha Mounts.jpg
 
I prefer virgin bass drums, but some of my bass drums do have flanges/consolette mounts. When buying a 40+ year old drum .... sometimes I simply have to go with a drilled bass drum, rather than have no bass drum. My option is usually not to use bass drum mounted tom hardware.

My hardware choice is Yamaha. I use 600 and 700 series stands and their hex rack when I use a rack. I use Gauger RIMS to suspend my toms (whether modern or vintage). And the RIMS suspensions have Yamaha tom mounts on them. I'm also in the process of adding Yamaha tom mounts to RMV suspension rims, in 8", 10", 12" sizes (which I currently have, so why not use them).
 

Attachments

  • 3.jpg
    3.jpg
    153.9 KB · Views: 19
  • 4.jpg
    4.jpg
    161.1 KB · Views: 18
I have a couple Gibraltar curved and straight racks I can use is why I asked this. I may go ahead and use this for mounting my Toms and cymbals. I have used these racks for my DJ gear and have a lot of extra hardware for them.
 
Gibraltar pretty much clones/copies all the majors, as far as tom mounts .... so whether you have Tama, Yamaha, Pearl, Ludwig, etc ..... Gibraltar will have an L arm, or a hex rod, or a pipe that'll work for your drums.
 
Having done both I ultimately prefer mounting to the kick. Makes for a much easier/faster setup which is reason enough for me. When stand mounted, it becomes a challenge to get the drums set up just right, and if there are cymbals involved, well forget it.

As mentioned already, there are legitimate reasons not to mount to the kick: if you have your toms off to the side, if the kick is really big and makes positioning difficult, etc. But if you have a typical setup, best to use the typical mounting method. The concept of a "virgin kick" is silly as it already has 3-4 dozen holes drilled into it already for the lugs alone. A few more for a tom mount won't make a difference honestly.
 
I have no issue mounting toms on my bass drums. That said, I like to be able to mix a maple PDP bass drum with Yamaha birch toms. Mixing the neccessary hardware can be a problem. I am looking at the Gibraltar Stealth Racks. Keeping the toms and cymbals on stands lets me swap bass drums without tearing down the whole kit, and lets me easily switch toms/mounts as they all fit into the same receivers.

I have a more traditional rack which is great is you want the same thing, the same way, every time. It's not so great if you want flexablity with minimal fuss
 
Stand for sure. Makes position the toms the easiest possible. With memory locks they set up consistently as well.
I've had double DW tom stands for decades that have help up wonderfully. I attach either two toms and one cymbal, or two cymbals and one tom and they are perfectly positioned every time.
 
Having a mount on the BD won't keep you from trying other ways.
 
notvinnie said:
Do you have a drum riser with all stand positions marked?
Click to expand...
Nope, once I set up kick, snare and throne, sit down for 10 seconds and get those feeling okay, everything falls right into place after that. I gig with a pretty small setup though. 4 pc with 4 cymbals. I used to gig with a 6 pc this way when I was younger and it still worked well for me. When I would do short gigs (1hr) on shared gear/stage and would occasionally use my own kit I would get it set up on the side and when the time came I’d be ready for sound check before the guitarist.

Memory locks on the gear and a few key positional relationships memorized will be key. If you know exactly how your rack tom and snare should line up, then everything is exactly in place from then on.

I do have a small gig carpet that goes everywhere that I planned to use a marker to put the stand locations on but I really never needed to even do that.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top