16x16 vs 16x14

once i went 16x13, i never looked back! so much depth, yet great response. you don't have to strike them as hard to get them to open up!!! i'm thinking about ordering some shells, staining and assembling them for DIY "custom" kit. i've been really curious as to what a 16x11 would feel and sound like. don't get me wrong, 16x16 floor toms have been the default for a reason, and i made some long lasting memories with a 16x16 at my side, but...the shorter floor toms are soooo sweet lol.
 
Call me old fashioned Swiss, but I've always favoured square sizes for floor toms. That said, depending how how "special" the price was I could be swayed.

Well, the thing is, the prize for the 16x14 would be around $100 less than for the 16x16
(or even a smaller amount), but in fact the 16x14 would be here in a few days, while the
16x14 would have to be built for me first and not come before end of March...

The point is now: I've never even thought about a 16x14, but now the opportunity came
up, I wanted to reconsider the whole matter, and actually both sizes seem to have their
advantages, if not even more advantages for the 16x14 in general.
 
I too own both sizes, but I prefer my 14x16 floor tom. Actually it's the biggest drum on the kit besides the 22 bass drum! I will be converting my 16x16 into a custom 16 gong drum with an 18 head. Also the way I tune the 14x16 tom, it sounds like a 16x16 tom. But I prefer the smaller drums, easier to lug around to gigs too!!!
 
I play a 12x16 and I like it better than both the 14x16 and the 16x16.
 
To chime in again, I had a similar dilemna when I was ordering my DW kit. I wasn't sure about the floor tom depth and was going to go 16x16 and 16x18...I have two floors. I played a 16x14 at the drum shop I deal with and it was great. It had the low end that you would expect from a 16, but was a tad quicker to respond and seemed punchier, which is great through the PA system. I got the 16x14 first and I thought about adding a 16x18, but I have heard them through the front of house and alot of times, floors larger than a 16" get muddied up and lost in the mix. I was afraid the 14" tom wouldn't sound like a "floor" tom, but the X shells on my DW's deliver a little more low end. I went with the 14x12 and 16x14 to keep it proportionate and never looked back. They sound great. I think a 14x14 and 16x14 would be great too and I'll bet you'll like the 16x14 better.
 
The 16X16 is a perfect accompaniment to the 16X18 and each sounds worlds apart. You couldn't make them sound the same if you wanted to. Conversely I would imagine a 16X14 vs 16X16 would sound pretty much the same. However, the 16X14 would just look weird to me. Like a flattened out 16" 'normal' floor tom. But I'm a traditionalist, both in my idea of what a drum should look and sound like, and the way I hold my left stick. Traditional grip. If I have my preference on two floor toms sitting together I go with the same depth, mostly for the look, and two next-size-up options in dimension for the progressively deepening tone, hence my pairing-up of a 16X16 and a 16X18.

$100 is a substantial difference, but once you buy it, pay shipping, get it home and uncrate it, it's yours, and as Bo pointed out, you have to live with it.

As for buying a hard case for your drum, there's not that big a difference in the price between the two sizes. Good padded bags are less expensive and work well also.

Best of luck.




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if you didnt already have 1 floor tom then the 16x14 would be a better choice for its versatility in tuning. but since you already have a 14x14 def get a 16x16! you could get really good low end with good tuning.
 
I've gone back-and-forth on this myself. I feel like I can get a better sound out of a 16x16" because I can tune it to get what I expect to hear. I feel like I can get a "bigger" sound, too. By tuning the reso head a little tighter, I can change the length of the note and how dramatically the pitch bends. Really, it's subjective, based on what kind of sound you want and expect.

When you're up against a wall of amplified music in a live setting, most of your sustain is wiped out anyhow...so I try to at least get the biggest, fattest note out of my drums, that I can. Shorter toms seem less versatile, with this considered. You can't make your decision based exclusively on how nice the floor tom sounds in a music shop, without other musicians in the mix.
 
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