Trouble with 12" Tom

Jon B

Jon B

Senior Member
Alright Folks! Here's my conundrum:
I have 4 toms (all rack, tama 100% birch performer) sized 8x7, 10x8, 12x8, 16x14. The 8, 10, and 16 tune beautifully! However the 12 inch WILL. NOT. TUNE.

The issue seems to be that I cannot for the life of me get it to tune low enough. The 10 can drop as low as the 12 can, and I don't know what to do! I've spent somewhere around 4 hours fidgeting with it, and I don't know what the problem is. I've tried different reso heads, I've tried different batters, and muffling. When I tune it low it always gets the "boing" overtone, that can be removed with muffling, but a serious amount it needed (ie, moongel about 2 inches in)

Any ideas on what i can do to get the drum to sound as good as it can as low as it can? If you guys need anymore info just ask and I'll do my best to help.
 
I had an annoying ddrum tom that wouldn't tune properly. I sent it to Precision Drum Co. to have the bearing edges re-cut. When I got it back it was perfect! So I sent the rest of the kit and had it done, it was worth what little they charged to do it.

Another thing is your tuning method. I tune my bottom higher than the top to get more attack and less ring. My tension on the bottoms is 1 1/4 turn from figure tight. I do this to all toms then tune the batters to where I think they sound best.
 
Jon B said:
Alright Folks! Here's my conundrum:
I have 4 toms (all rack, tama 100% birch performer) sized 8x7, 10x8, 12x8, 16x14. The 8, 10, and 16 tune beautifully! However the 12 inch WILL. NOT. TUNE.

The issue seems to be that I cannot for the life of me get it to tune low enough. The 10 can drop as low as the 12 can, and I don't know what to do! I've spent somewhere around 4 hours fidgeting with it, and I don't know what the problem is. I've tried different reso heads, I've tried different batters, and muffling. When I tune it low it always gets the "boing" overtone, that can be removed with muffling, but a serious amount it needed (ie, moongel about 2 inches in)

Any ideas on what i can do to get the drum to sound as good as it can as low as it can? If you guys need anymore info just ask and I'll do my best to help.
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That leap from a 12" to a 16" drum is huge and I have never understood that trend. Is it really the drum that's the issue or are you trying to drop it lower that it can/wants to go to get a pitch difference with the 16" that you like?
 
I've got birch Starclassic Performers as well and my 12" tom is TOUGH. With coated G2 batter I can't get a sound I like at ALL. A clear EC2 has helped a little bit but it doesn't have the sustain I want. I don't care for my 16" either.

I use the 10" and 14" and they sound great.
 
That leap from a 12" to a 16" drum is huge and I have never understood that trend. Is it really the drum that's the issue or are you trying to drop it lower that it can/wants to go to get a pitch difference with the 16" that you like?
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I bought used, beggars cant be choosers :) But i tune from the 8 down, the 16 is immensely lower than the 12, but I really like that difference. Tuned that way for as long as i can remember. I would like to stick a 14 in the middle of them though, and a 18 on the end.

Another thing is your tuning method. I tune my bottom higher than the top to get more attack and less ring. My tension on the bottoms is 1 1/4 turn from figure tight. I do this to all toms then tune the batters to where I think they sound best.
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Never tried tuning all the resos the same, I'll try that today and see if it helps!
 
My 9x12 tom on both kits is the most challenging for me to tune. I typically tune my batters a smidge higher than the resos. I recently took my maple 12 tom to a local shop and asked the drum guy tune it. It sounded good when he was done and he tuned the reso a smidge higher than the batter.
 
The basics, man.

1. Are the shell and hoops flat and round?
2. Are the bearing edges in good shape?
3. Have you seated the heads to the particular drum?
4. Are the collars good and tight and is the head symmetry correct with the collar?

If yes to all ...

Take the 12" into a room where it is the only drum in the room. Ignore what you think it should sound like and tune it to it's own characteristic. Attack, sustain, resonance, decay. Tune it to the point where it sounds good on its own - wherever that point may be.
Now bring you 10" into the room and tune it a step above the twelve. Next bring your 16" in and tune it two steps below the twelve.

Your bass, generally, should be as low as you can get it to resonate, then just a touch higher.

Done this way, the twelve becomes the key tom with the 10 and 16 tuned relative to it, you'll find that less frustrating - and it'll sound as good as it is going to.

If I may, invest in a 14" floor if you want to tighten up the range between the 12 and the 16. Or, if you want to stay with 2-up, 1-down ... then consider buying a 13 so that you are playing 10-13-16.
 
A few ideas. Tune your largest drum first, and work up from there.
Your 12 tom may sound better 'out there' in front of kit or away from your ears. try recording it and see if you like its sound 'out there' any better.
"Boing" usually results from out of sync reso and batter - tune them in sync first, and if you want the tom to go low enough, tune the reso lowest it will go. To reduce sustain, tune reso higher than batter. Also don't forget every drum has its sweet spot or fundamental note, and the note you're 'looking for' on that tom may not be its sweetest. Thats why relative tuning to other toms is better.
The only other possibility is a bad bearing edge or out of round tom. Did you check for that?
 
1. Are the shell and hoops flat and round?
2. Are the bearing edges in good shape?
3. Have you seated the heads to the particular drum?
4. Are the collars good and tight and is the head symmetry correct with the collar?
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Shells flat/hoops flat and round!
Bearing edges perfect as far as my eye can tell!
Collars nice and cozy with great symmetry!
What do you mean by "seated the heads to the particular drum"?
I also don't know how to check to see if it is out of round, but it looks pretty round to me.

Just a side note, I'm not trying to get the toms to be specific pitches apart and I'm not trying to bridge a 16 and 10 with a 12, I simply want to get my drums to sound low pitched and massive. So the 16 is going to be helluva deeper than the 12, I know that, but I'm not concerned about the 16, it stays put pretty much no mater what.

I just re-tuned it after taking heads off and checking hoops/edges/heads and tuned the batter/reso the same (around 1/4- 1/2 a turn up from finger tight, adjusting as needed to match pitch) but I cant try it today, will give you guys some feedback tomorrow ASAP.
 
Jon B said:
I also don't know how to check to see if it is out of round, but it looks pretty round to me.
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Remove hoops and heads. Measure shell from 12 o'clock to 6 o'clock, 1 o'clock to 7 o'clock, etc. All measurement should be the same or within a small tolerance. I'm not certain what tolerance is considered acceptable.
 
Jon B said:
Just a side note, I'm not trying to get the toms to be specific pitches apart and I'm not trying to bridge a 16 and 10 with a 12, I simply want to get my drums to sound low pitched and massive. So the 16 is going to be helluva deeper than the 12, I know that, but I'm not concerned about the 16, it stays put pretty much no mater what.
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well, the 12 will only go so low. otherwise you gotta get a different diameter drum to go any lower in pitch than it can. a 12 to 16 is a big hop for some people, but many, many sets do that interval. maybe you want a 14.
 
maybe you want a 14.
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You bet I do! Hate to get off topic but! Since my drums are the 100% birch, would a b/b 14 tom sound the same sound wise? Or does the b/b have a really different tone? Big enough that I would be frustrated by it?
 
Tried the tuning today (same on batter and reso) but the reso had a real nasty overtone. I think it might be my tuning but I'm not sure, so I'll check today. It might just be that the reso doesn't want to go that low. Any other ideas? (I'm using pinstripe over ambassador if that helps)
 
Jon B said:
Tried the tuning today (same on batter and reso) but the reso had a real nasty overtone. I think it might be my tuning but I'm not sure, so I'll check today. It might just be that the reso doesn't want to go that low.
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Or the fundamental tone of the drum itself won't tune as low as you would like.

Try this, it may work for you (and it will show you one technique for seating the head)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9wgXSfxew

Good luck,
 
Or the fundamental tone of the drum itself won't tune as low as you would like.
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I had never seen this tapping on the shell to determine the pitch before! I've tapped on the shell to get an idea of how high/low it would sound but never tried tuning to the pitch the tapping makes! Trying this ASAP!

I've got a pretty good tone going on now, the batter is about 1/4, 1/2 turn above the reso (around 1.25- 2.5 turns from finger) but its still not quite sounding good, even on its own. I'll try the technique above and see if that works, any other ideas?
 
I find my 12's hard to tune too. 10's rule for tuning ease in my experience.

What do you guys use to check roundness and bearing edge?
 
I'm chiming in to add to the "my 12 in tom is frustrating to tune". They just don't like us!

As for checking out of round, if your drum sounds good, don't worry about it. If your drum is giving you tuning woes, take off the hoops and heads and measure the shell from lug to the lug directly across the drum from it. Do it for every lug. If this is on a bigger tom like a 16, and on an expensive, high end drum, I'd be concerned if you found a discrepancy greater than 1/8 of an inch. If on a smaller drum like a 10 in? obviously smaller discrepancy could be a concern.

For bearing edges, you need to find a flat surface to put the drum on and see if you can see any gaps. Shine a light inside the shell with the lights off and see how much is creeping out from under the edges. If the surface you were using was completely flat, and it was a high end drum, you shouldn't see any light anywhere.

To judge if the surface you are using is completely flat, just turning the drum will help you decide that as you look. Pick up the drum and just turn it and set it down and look again (to protect the bearing edge don't do this casually, be gentile). If you see light in one area, and turn the drum and you no longer see the light in the same place but in a different one, then the surface you are using is most likely not flat.
 
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