Great demo on that snare drum Tommy, and it supports my view (a bit criticized last time I mentioned it) that the man on the seat is the key element in sound, and maybe followed by the recording equipment. That is, you were able to draw great sound from a good drum. I'm guessing you could do that from an MIJ Howard too. Nice playing, and as Ringo said, was just now great company for a lunch break!

... and a couple more replies!

DownTownFarmer/Mitch! THANK YOU for the very kind words! Glad you enjoyed too! I gotta take a moment and tell you about the "diabolically engineered" tom mount though! I got the Ludwig BR's from a Ludwig endorser that went on over to DW. Of interest to me was that the supplied tom mount, while using Ludwig's standard double tom bass drum plate, had the then NEW tom/ball holder. The "L" on the mount is really too short! .. meaning .. you can't get the 9X13 tom off the top of the bass drum... which places it too high up for comfortable playing. Well, in my case anyway, as I sit rather low. Anyway, after wrestling with the OEM mount, and getting it into a decent, but not great position eventually, it occurred to me that I could use the top/pipe of the standard Ludwig double tom mount, and use a LONG "L" arm to get the drum LOWER, and off the top of the bass drum. It worked!, and that is what you see here! I'm pretty used to the rack tom being OFF the side of the bass drum anyway as I have been playing vintage Rogers for quite a long time, and that was the norm... then! Anyway, I'll attach a few pics for you: One of the OEM tom mount as supplied, and then how I got around that and kinda improvised my own... but still using Ludwig parts, and then the finished product. THANKS again for the nice comments!

Dan Boucher! THANKS as always for your insights Dan! I do tend to set snare drums up the same way with heads/tension regardless of what they are, so... that could certainly be how they sound very similar when played/recorded. I agree with you too Dan, we all tend to "carry" our own sound with us, which comes out on each and every drum we play! I think a lot of THAT is also based on one's own technique and approach. Regarding the recording: I have to make mention of this because it still just blows me away: I record these with my iPhone 6+ ... and nothing else! The quality is mind boggling. The recording is actually very accurate as to what the drums sound like. There is no extra processing. Amazing really, because years ago... one would need a camcorder, etc. to get these results! THANKS Dan! Always a pleasure!

Tommyp

Or you could had just used a snare stand.Cool1

i know some guys don't like mounting a tom that way, but it works for me, I think the kick sounds fuller.

JR!

How long have you been on the VDF now? Since 2007, yes? Well, in that 8 years, have you EVER seen one of my sets with it's rack tom in a snare stand? No? That's what I thought! Not my thing there JR... doesn't supply the right vibe for any of my sets, or for me. However!, that isn't to say that it doesn't work for you! As far as the bass drum sounding fuller with the tom mounted off the shell .. well .. I primarily play 14X24's, thus I'm not lacking in the bottom end/fullness department, even with the rack tom mounted on the bass drum!

Tommyp

I know you've never used a snare stand and to be honest, I actually don't have any other way to mount my tom. The kit didn't come with a tom arm, but even kits I've had with a tom arm, I've opted for a snare stand. Besides my 20" kick sounding bigger, I find it easier to position the tom. I can have the tom high or low without interning with the kick and I happen to think it looks cool.

Your Rogers kit looks great with the tom and cymbal mounted on the kick and if I had one like yours, I'd probably set it up the same way.

Very cool. Now I thought you had the rod going through both brackets on the standard double tom mount, which would be a good feeling :) , but I see it's not long enough, on top of which you couldn't get that slight angle on the tom. Whatever. It works. I like that kind of solution especially using correct parts...

[edit] I looked at it again and it seems the rod would not even clear the pipe to the second bracket, if a person was thinking of getting a longer rod and putting a little bend in it...:)

Mitch

plus 1 tommy!

Mitch!

Indeed. If it were a straight shot between both of those brackets, that would be even MORE sturdy!, but alas, as you have seen, it's not a straight run. Amazingly though, even with a 9X13 hangin' on it... it's very sturdy! You can see in the vid that when I play the 9X13, it barely moves. It has never been an issue, and of course as was discussed with JR, the complete vintage set up/vibe is kept intact! Even better, best actually, would be if Ludwig offered an EXTRA length "L" and ball replacement for the mount that comes with the set. That was the first thing I looked for! Unfortunately, they don't make such an item. I think they should though! I originally bought these to FLIP!, but then, er, well... I played 'em, and even gigged them for a year .. ( gave my Rogers a break ) .. and now, they are like the ultimate practice set... for me! I have a guy working on me to sell these to him. Little by little he's wearing me down! Here are a couple pics from the "gig zone".

Tommyp

So cool with the shortened cymbal L-arm too...

Mitch