Udrilled,virgin base drum pros&cons

I like the one mounted tom to be over the bass drum, which cannot be done with a snare stand. I tried mounting the one tom from a cymbal stand, and then I got a Gibraltar platform stand. I eventually gave up mounting the 12" tom on a stand and drilled and attached a two-hole tom mount. It sounds no different. Peace and goodwill.
 
Glad to see this topic discussed. I have 4 kits and am looking to sell 1 or 2. I keep resisting it though because I am not sure I can replace what I have. All I see among pro sets right now are kits with the toms mounted on cymbal stand. This is something I do not want. I am so used to mounting them on the bass drum that I just don't think I could do it any other way. I wish companies would offer both on their higher end kits but I'm just not seeing that. I have a set of Mapex Saturn III and Mapex Orion Orbiters that used the mounted system where the toms sit on top of the bass, but the bass isn't drilled. I believe this is a great system and should be widely available.

Reading quickly through this thread it does seem that most people prefer a tom mount. Just curious, is there anyone who plays a two up tom kit that prefers them hooked to the cymbal stands?
 
Having tried all kinds of configurations.. all I can say is:
- negligible difference in sound either way
- virgin looks cool and sliding it into a case is a breeze as there is no mount to get caught. Also not relying on a mount allows more flexibility in positioning using a stand (s). Stand mounts have their issues.. snare stands can sometimes be tippy depending on the tom.. cymbal mounted can be tricky getting the right balance and setup everytime... mounts on a spike stand are solid and sturdy but can be heavy to move.. rack mounts (sorry I just don't like the look and all the parts :)
- mounted makes it dead simple to setup the same way every time - fast. Also minimizes gear.. as you don't need to lug stands. If the mounting hardware and tom/bass configuration is well designed together.. you can usually get the toms in ergonomic positions that work really well. If stage space is tight it's the way to go..
So you have to factor in looks, ergonomics, setup, space, transport.. and use the right thing for you :)
 
Just curious, is there anyone who plays a two up tom kit that prefers them hooked to the cymbal stands?

No lol.

I play 2 up and a tree is mandatory for me. If I played one up I'd probably still use the tree, because that's smaller than a snare stand. But one up on a cymbal stand is a breeze too. I'd prefer a cymbal stand to a snare stand so I can mount a cymbal off it. I'll take the tom trees
 
I play 2 up, they are on a triple tree mount on the lower of a cymbal stand- the other hole in the tree is for the top of the cymbal stand, which holds a crash cymbal.
It's heavy and sturdy.
The mount on the BD holds a stand for a splash cymbal.
It works for me.
 
I actually like the look of the tom tree. (not the one above lol) To me it says stability, solidarity. For me it's an important part of what makes a kit...a kit. I like the look of a mass of chrome, just like on old cars.

When the toms float over the bass drum, it has a disconnected look to me. I don't pull my bass drum out on a gig unless I have to change a head....which happened one time in the last 10 years. So the convenience part isn't worth it to me.

I kind of detest horizontal lines with a kit, so a rack is out. It would be overkill anyway for me.

Looks are very personal

Plus I LOVE my 17" crash cymbal centered between my rack toms. That's easily done with a dogbone cymbal arm on the tom tree. Otherwise, with no tom tree, I would have to get my center cymbal in place by awkwardly spanning the distance with a dogbone boom arm off the nearest cymbal stand.

In the studio, a virgin bass drum has a lot of merit. The convenience of tuning, head swaps, and whatever else, makes it well worth it in the studio. I don't have restrictive "looks" rules in the studio.
 
Just curious, is there anyone who plays a two up tom kit that prefers them hooked to the cymbal stands?
Yes. Plus I hang more stuff on those stands. Very configurable & stable.
 
When I went from a 24 to a 22 because I sit ridiculously low that 22 had to be a 24 in disguise. Only when I played an (18x22) did I think I could replace my 24 and a (virgin) 22 just sounded boomier..bigger..fuller from behind the kit. What the soundman did with it was his job...more or less. Now I'm older and am tired of my own fussing over things to the nth degree so a tom mount is now ok but that still small voice still is always there bothering me.
 
A lot of people will buy a virgin then later want to drill it and mount a post. So despite being great it must not be that great.
 
And, to me, it's ease of setup and ergonomics. I seem to be able to get rack tom angle better when mounted on a stand, but it's a bit left of where I like it when I do that. So 6 of 1/ half dozen of other? Ease of set-up: rack tom mounted on kick with mount memory locks is a 10 second job. Stand takes fiddling. But how much kick rack mount weighs is also a factor: I've had some kick-mounted rack hardware that weighed an absolute ton and was clumsy as heck.

Right now I'm using a DW FF kit with drilled kick. The rack mount hardware is fairly light, has great memory locks, and the positioning is about 95% of what I need for tom. But other kits I've had didn't work as well as the DW FF in this regard.

Which is exactly why it all comes down to looks and hardware preferences. The sound properties are negligible.
 
Reading quickly through this thread it does seem that most people prefer a tom mount. Just curious, is there anyone who plays a two up tom kit that prefers them hooked to the cymbal stands?
Tom holder/cymbal stand
 

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Buns away..
For live playing.. Once the kick is mic'd, dampened, mixed and put through a PA .. The audience would have a hard time noticing the difference - compared to the same kick mounted.
 
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Please let me start a food fight. (Anyone) that can't hear the difference between a virgin kick versus one or a two tom mount on that drum has clay !!#$&!! Ears...end of story. No debate..period.
A drummer I respect, Simon Phillips, is acutely aware of the nuanced sounds a drum kit can make. Just watch any of the videos of his studio setup. He’s extremely picky.

“An 18” deep bass drum? No, never.” or “Bubinga sounds just a bit brittle.”

And he uses two tom tree configurations and I’d say its effect on the bass drums are exactly what he wants.
 
Bubinga sounds brittle to me too.

It's too hard.
 
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