I'll probably be shot for saying this but that is what happens when you put a tom on a snare stand. It chokes the sound. Not tightening helps but the issue persists. Hold a tom in the air and play it. Sit it on a stand and play it. You will certainly hear the difference. Someone had posted about shock mounts for that purpose. They looked pretty cool but it has been a while and I don't recall who manufactured them.

Well.. I can't see that mounting a tom on a snare stand (making contact only with the bottom rim, as it should ),, would kill the tone or resonance any more than a 300 or 400 gram metal plate tom mount, bolted to the shell itself.. The bottom rim only tensions the Reso head.. Never could understand this argument.. Just Me ?? .. are we All killing our snares as well by putting them on snare drum stands..

Cheers

Afterthought... A separate stand will create some level of isolation from BD/MT interference as well.

Have you tried tensioning up a bit more than normal on the bottom head?

Just stabbin' here....

Longjohn, I've never under stood the argument either with SD's being mounted.

Kevins I'll mess with the tension when I check the lugs later. I'll keep you posted on what I do or don't find.

I think te issue at hand is simply trying my above mentioned method and see if you hear the difference between a suspended tom and one that is mounted on a stand. The reference to a snare drum is moot as most of us do not desire a really resonant and sustaining snare drum. That is why it is common practice to tighten the snare side head to the point of choking.

I am only suggesting you use your ears to decide. If you don't mind the sound of a snare stand mounted tom then there is no issue. In another thread the idea was discussed regarding whether we even want resonance from our toms. I for one do like an open drum sound. I cannot get that from a snare stand. It just is what it is. Same thing with standard rubber feet on a floor tom. It doesn't work for me. It obviously works for a lot of other people and that is fine. The original poster noted a marked difference when mounting to a snare stand. That is a reality and exactly what I am talking about. I like the looks and stability of a snare stand for a tom. I just don't like the sound of it. to each their own.

I have my 8x12 Slingerland tom on a DW 6000 snare stand, and often get compliments on its very resonant sound. It is also very comfortable to play in that position, which is near impossible to achieve with mounting on the bass drum. The original mount was the bass hoop clip mount, that works fine, but is a bit low for me.

I'm closed to the idea that there is some difference between a suspended and stand mount but not that much to my ear (that's why I don't get the argument I guess). Like I said it was sudden change. I have noticed a difference when I tighten the tom down, I figured squeezing the lower rim was detuning the lower head. When I first mounted it it sounded fine, almost to much ring. I tuned it down a little because I like a low sounding toms as opposed to a high when I only have 2 toms. I'll check the lugs (make sure a screw didn't back out) and recheck the tuning, might tune them back up.

Speaking of tightening the basket, I have read that placing the tom so that the it's not set all the way in the basket is better than setting all the way in, as far as sound. Any comments from the stand mounted tom folks?

I use and love stand mounted toms. the trick is not to tighten it down hardly at all. and to not have a severe basket angle either. just place to where the tom is held in place by the two lower arms, also. another trick is to place small foam rubber strips where the tom is touching the stand arms.

Now to throw a wrench in:

Insofar as a "Buck Rogers"-type stand WILL choke a rack tom, a Premier basket-type WILL NOT. Don't ask me why, couldn't tell ya, but it's true.

One would think that as popular as stand-mounted rack toms are these days, a manufacturer could start marketing the basket-type as a tom stand. If only one were doing so, they'd move a metric ton of them, I'd think.