Hetfield

The mount is just fine. He has the tom arm inserted backwards in order to simulate a left handed kit. If you are right handed, it is perfectly OK and factory standard.

You might want to consider purchaseing a couple of the repro machined nose collets. They hold up much better than the cast pot metal ones that came with this set. Rogers cheapened up a bit on their hardware after they were purchased by CBS, and this was one sign of that.

John

John-

Thanks for the reply! That is good news to me. I knew I could easily swing the tom around with the ball and socket joint, but I didn't know if the angle of the mount coming up from the bass drum was strange or not.

Thanks for the comment about the collet. Is there an obvious way to tell the machined vs. cast collets just by looking at them? You are just talking about the bottom piece with the two rods coming off correct? The one right above the plate on the bass drum?

Thanks again! I was glad to see a response because I need to make the decision on the purchase in the next few hours :)

-Brian

Easiest way to switch this to a right handed drum for you to use is rotate the bass drum tom mount. The bolt pattern is symmetrical, and then the angle of the mount would lean in the opposite direction. Or get another mount with more angle. Rogers made the swivomatic mounts in more than one angle for bass drum spurs. 60 and 75 degrees.

The cast collets are chrome and shiney with smoother edges. The Rogers machined collets had Pat Pend imprinted on them. Check out ebay for pictures. They usually identify the type in the posting.

Thanks for the info. I can see the difference now. From the pictures I put up, it looks like the collet on the tom is a cast one (smoother edges) and the collet on the bass drum is the machined type. It looks like I could replace the cast one for about $30 just looking on eBay real quick.

I was told once that I should be careful with Rogers collets not to over tighten. I was told that this is where most peoples problems with these come from. Is this true?

No need to hammer them. Cast collets are very prone to cracking. Overtightening makes them hard to get off as well. Might try a memriloc clamp on the tom holder rod for height setting. Then you only need to tighten the collet to prevent it from moving back and forth. Saves the collet.

Looks to me like the mount was installed on a virgin shell misalligned.The arm should extend perfectly vertical.The mount should install ****her left or right to compensate.

Thanks for the replies guys. I bought the drums this weekend and have been loving them. After I set up the kit right handed and adjusted the mount a tad, it basically lines up vetical from the bass drum. I think the pictures made it look a little more off than it was and the left handed set up was doing something funny for the mount. I might post a picture of what it looks like now if I get a chance. As of right now, it is looking good.

P.S. I can definetly tell a difference between the machined and cast collets. The cast have a few samll hairline cracks around the top and just feel a little bit cheaper. The machined feels much sturdier. I may replace the cast ones with the machined ones as I go along here because they definetly feel preferable.

Thanks for the help!