Yamaha 9000 pre yess mounting toms advice

Hi folks, your input on this small issue would be much appreciated. So I have an old 9000 pre yess that I absolutely love a great reliable work horse kit for gigging. When mounting smaller toms 10 and 12 the resonance can choke at certain point along the hex arm it mounts on too. Out near the end of the hex bar has full resonance. My question is if I cut down the hex bar for the smaller toms which seems very long for them about 6 inches so when I slide them onto it is it that the bars being right inside the drum that chokes it. I was thinking of cutting two of them from 6 to mabye 3 and a half as it seems pointless having them at the end of these long bars. I see the newer arms for the yess are shorter. As i said when placed near the end of the bar it sings and is sturdy and I still prefer it to over complicated bulky bouncy rims systems so not going that route. But cutting the bars or buying the shorter ones would be better for positioning would it also help for the resonance as not having a big bar in a small drum I'm sure would help. Not an issue for the floor toms. Kit is 8 10 12 14 15 20. I use 10 12 15. So is it worth the hassle a friend has metal work shop and i can do it there properly?
 
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I always found the toms to sound better mounted on the end of the bars. I think you have it backwards though. It is the fact that the tom is able to vibrate more on the end of the long bar that makes it sound more resonate, not the fact that the bar is inside the drum more or less. Using shorter bars or cutting your bars will kill the sound on the non-YESS mounts. Just re-position them so that the smaller toms are also at the end of the bars.
 
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Do NOT cut the arms shorter. Two reasons why:

1) You will not be able to get the toms onto the arms unless you do it upside down! The reason that the Yamaha hex arms have a taper at the end (it gets slightly smaller in diameter) is because the tom bracket has a little plastic piece on the inside that acts as a buffer between the wing screw and hex arm for better security and to prevent damage (otherwise the wing screw on the tom bracket would tighten directly against the hex arm). The plastic piece "grips" the hex arm for strength and security. The reason the hex arm is tapered at the end is to lift the little plastic piece up so the drum can slide up the hex arm. Gravity keeps the plastic piece in the "down" position. It needs that taper on the hex arm to lift it out of the way so the bracket can slide on. If you cut the arm, you lose the taper and there will be no way to put the tom onto the arm. The only way it will work is you put the drum on the arm upside down. I learned this the hard way. I showed up at a gig all proud of myself after shortening the arms on my Yamaha Stage Custom and couldn't get the toms to go on the arms. I was perplexed for a solid five minutes. I finally figured out what it was. I had to remove the arms from the bass drum, set the tom on the floor upside down (so the plastic piece was in the "up" position-gravity and all), slide the arm in, then put the entire assembled tom and arm back into the bass drum. What a hassle!

2) I had a vintage MIJ kit that used the Rogers copy "Swiv-O-Matic" hex arms. It was long and went way further into the shell than I needed it to. I noticed, much like you, that it sounded much less choked and sang a lot more if I extended the tom so it was all the way at the end of the arm. It was awkward to play in that position though, so I thought, much like you, that cutting the hex rod would be the answer (no taper/plastic insert to worry about on this one). Even though there was barely any of the hex rod penetrating the tom after I cut it, it still sounded choked, just as if I had not cut it at all. Much like offdwall said above, some (most) toms sound better on the ends of the arms for some reason.

I would get some YESS arms (with shorter hex rods) and use your toms as is, or, even better, couple the YESS Arms with suspension mounts, but DO NOT cut the hex rods shorter. Let my stupidity be your guide as to what NOT to do.

V
 
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Yeah, as vyacheslav basically confirmed, it’s the vibration of the drum at the end of the longer bar that “un-chokes” the tom. It has nothing to do with how much bar is or isn’t inside the drum. Shorter arms are not going to help.

I’ve recorded a lot of pre-YESS Yamaha drums over the years. (It’s what I do for a living. ? ) Hang the toms at the ends of the bars and they are nearly as good as the YESS mounts.
 
Get the PRE YESS arms, keep those original arms aside as they are hard to find.

I agree. I cut down a long arm and tapered it - no problems.
But I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't selling the kit.
I would have just bought a shorter arm if I was keeping it.
 
..... if I cut down the hex bar for the smaller toms which seems very long for them about 6 inches so when I slide them onto it is it that the bars being right inside the drum that chokes it. I was thinking of cutting two of them from 6 to mabye 3 and a half as it seems pointless having them at the end of these long bars. I see the newer arms for the yess are shorter.
Buy two (what you need?) of the shorter armed mounts. The hex rod is 2 3/4 inches long. They're around $25 new. Sell the long ones off, if money's tight and you need to recoup your investment.
 
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