Gibraltar curved rack vs straight

Hey guys

Basically, I just wanted to know, what are the differences between Gibraltar curved racks and straight ones? As well as the curved wing extension tubes and straight tube extensions? What type of customization does each type of tubing provide, since everything I had on stands I now plan to mount on a rack (minus my hi hats)?

I have a fairly small room and I'm assuming geting a rack will help me save space, because it's quite difficult to get from one area of my room to another (Since I believe the stands play part of the culprit). If this is a misconception, please tell me so.

But I also plan on getting more drums and cymbals in the future, so I thought a rack might help. Thanks for helping me out.

The straight vs. curved thing is mostly a question of taste and comfort. Some drummers feel that straight racks are too far from them "at the corners", resulting in either cymbal and tom holders stretching from the sides, or uncomfortable reaches. A curved rack, they say, helps put everything in reach. I have used straight racks and mini-racks for years and never had issues with it.

Generally speaking, what a lot of people will say is that a rack complicates set-up and take-down. I tend to disagree, since I use two small side racks with no center bar for most of my mounting, and when I take the feet off, they slide right into the side of my cargo area in my station wagon beside the cases. But this will again be dependent on your personal opinion and the size of your setup.

You will have to do very little modifications for your existing stands. You simply take the top one or two lengths of the stand from the bottom tripod part of the stand, and attach it to the rack using a compatible multi-clamp. Most racks that you buy new come with a couple of these clamps included. For larger setups, you can buy them separately. In addition, nearly all modern racks include clamps to insert cymbal books on top of their vertical bars, eliminating the need for at least two clamps.

I use a Gibraltar round-tube rack, but it is true that round tubes cause slippage. I have experienced this at some very inopportune times. If this is a concern for you, you may want to explore Pearl (square tubing) or Yamaha (hex tubing) racks.

I have included a picture of a commonly sold Gibraltar rack package for you, to illustrate what I mean by all this.

Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

I knew I forgot to mention something which is, at the moment I only have a small setup. I have 3 toms, snare, kick and 3 cymbals. I don't know if this info is useful to you but thought I would add it in case you make recommendations on what I should be looking into. One of my concerns is, if I update my kit with more stuff like toms, is if the rack will accommodate the new equip. Can you actually put smaller toms on an extension bar if the center bar has no space left, without the setup feeling awkward to play? I'm just trying to make sure I get a rack I can use for more equip. later.

I have read about that slippage issue on Gibraltar round tube racks. How bad is it in your experience? On another forum someone said that this really isn't an issue because of memory locks. Would you disagree? They also mentioned that positioning of the gear is much less flexible on a Pearl or Yamaha rack because of their design. I can see this being a bigger problem on Pearl's square tubing than Yamaha's hex. Or am I missing something?

Rene Dominguez said:

I knew I forgot to mention something which is, at the moment I only have a small setup. I have 3 toms, snare, kick and 3 cymbals. I don't know if this info is useful to you but thought I would add it in case you make recommendations on what I should be looking into. One of my concerns is, if I update my kit with more stuff like toms, is if the rack will accommodate the new equip. Can you actually put smaller toms on an extension bar if the center bar has no space left, without the setup feeling awkward to play? I'm just trying to make sure I get a rack I can use for more equip. later.

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If/when you do decide to add more stuff, you can get a full extension with another foot (see the actual drumset picture in the example I sent you, the side rack is not a wing so much as another side to the rack, with a supporting foot).

Racks are cool because there are really no rules as to how you put it together. If it feels awkward to you, well then, change an angle, change the height of the bar, etc. With the wings and extensions, they move, they aren't set at the angles you see in the pictures. Everything adjusts to some degree.

Rene Dominguez said:

I have read about that slippage issue on Gibraltar round tube racks. How bad is it in your experience? On another forum someone said that this really isn't an issue because of memory locks. Would you disagree? They also mentioned that positioning of the gear is much less flexible on a Pearl or Yamaha rack because of their design. I can see this being a bigger problem on Pearl's square tubing than Yamaha's hex. Or am I missing something?

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The biggest issue I ever had was that I had to tighten down the T-clamps that connect the horizontals to the verticals pretty tight on my right side rack, supporting three large toms, five cymbals, etc. It only ever was a real problem once, when a T-clamp actually broke, but this was one time in fifteen years of owning the rack. You do want to use memory locks on the horizontal bars and on heavier pieces of gear.

Pearl clamps are somewhat limited in that there's always a perpendicular takeoff, no flexibility around the rack. But Yamaha's Hexrack clamps actually ride on a spherical surface that clamps around the hex, so they are even less limited in positioning than tubular rack clamps.

alparrott said:

it is true that round tubes cause slippage. I have experienced this at some very inopportune times.

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No, that's not true at all. The object doesn't cause an action. User error causes slippage. Tighten the clamps sufficiently and use memory locks for particularly heavily loaded clamps. I've been using the same rack since 2001 with not a single slippage issue, even with multiple objects hanging on single clamps. I've even kept it set up for months at a time in a rehearsal space.

alparrott said:

A curved rack, they say, helps put everything in reach. .

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yes, yes it does. A curve follows the natural way a drummer moves around a kit. I much prefer the curve.

timmdrum said:

No, that's not true at all. The object doesn't cause an action. User error causes slippage. Tighten the clamps sufficiently and use memory locks for particularly heavily loaded clamps. I've been using the same rack since 2001 with not a single slippage issue, even with multiple objects hanging on single clamps. I've even kept it set up for months at a time in a rehearsal space.

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I agree. Memory locks make slippage a non-issue.

After, what's a cymbal stand? A round tube.

I bought a straight rack, just the front piece. I felt that everything was out of reach. Also i found that you have play with you kick facing straight ahead, I can't play that way. I play with my kick angled. I still have it. If anyone wants to buy it off me or make a trade pm me with offers. It's a gibraltar with 4 brand new multi clamps. and 2 boom arms.

timmdrum said:

No, that's not true at all. The object doesn't cause an action. User error causes slippage. Tighten the clamps sufficiently and use memory locks for particularly heavily loaded clamps. I've been using the same rack since 2001 with not a single slippage issue, even with multiple objects hanging on single clamps. I've even kept it set up for months at a time in a rehearsal space.

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In my experience, "tighten sufficiently" has meant "bring pliers with you to every gig". I use memory locks with every clamp that's holding more than one cymbal or drum, as well as on the ends, and still experience slight rolls around the tube now and again, even with everything cranked down with pliers. I've been using the same rack and upgrading parts since *1991*... about ten years more than yours, and learned some of this stuff the hard way. One of my next projects is transitioning over to the Hexrack.

alparrott said:

In my experience, "tighten sufficiently" has meant "bring pliers with you to every gig". I use memory locks with every clamp that's holding more than one cymbal or drum, as well as on the ends, and still experience slight rolls around the tube now and again, even with everything cranked down with pliers. I've been using the same rack and upgrading parts since *1991*... about ten years more than yours, and learned some of this stuff the hard way. One of my next projects is transitioning over to the Hexrack.

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Maybe your stuff is just worn out. I don't tighten anything with pliers. I do tighten the clamps that don't have memory locks pretty tight with my hands. Not "make weird straining noises and turn red in the face" tight, but tight as I can reasonably get them. My ride and 14" "hanging floor" is on one clamp sans mem. lock, and it's never slipped one bit. Don't know what you're doing with yours, or maybe it's just old, or an older design, etc. but my '01 rack has worked flawlessly with minimal effort.

Just saying that blanket statements like "round racks will slip" are inaccurate without considering the many variables involved, and are therefore total misinformation.

timmdrum said:

Maybe your stuff is just worn out. I don't tighten anything with pliers. I do tighten the clamps that don't have memory locks pretty tight with my hands. Not "make weird straining noises and turn red in the face" tight, but tight as I can reasonably get them. My ride and 14" "hanging floor" is on one clamp sans mem. lock, and it's never slipped one bit. Don't know what you're doing with yours, or maybe it's just old, or an older design, etc. but my '01 rack has worked flawlessly with minimal effort.

Just saying that blanket statements like "round racks will slip" are inaccurate without considering the many variables involved, and are therefore total misinformation.

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OK, well, I can agree with the worn components statement. And to be sure, a lot of my equipment is from the older Gibraltar series. As I have replaced them with newer Road Series clamps, like the mega clamp, to be sure there have been less problems, probably due equally to newness of gear and improvements in the technology.

I will amend my previous statement:
If not correctly tightened, or if using older parts that don't appear to grip as well as more modern clamps, and depending on load placed on each clamp and tube, you may experience slippage on a round tube. Use of memory locks for larger pieces of kit is recommended.

Sorry to the OP, hope this makes a little more sense, and hope we can all find some middle ground on this.

No worries alparrott, I appreciate any advice that is given to me. Thanks again to everyone for their input. I actually went ahead and bought a curved Gibraltar rack on the bay and just recently finished setting it up. I hope this rack can take the punishment I give my drums. One other question I had was, do I need a memory lock for every clamp? Instead of having to do multiple experiments and waste time in the process I'll go ahead and ask, should I be using 2 locks on each clamp or will 1 suffice?

One lock should work fine for you.

I use two locks on a 16" mounted tom, otherwise I use one, and I don't have any problems with the individual multiclamps.

Thanks guys. Cheers