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16" Maple Floor Tom

BBruins12 - Thu, 04/30/2009 - 13:33

Hey Everyone...I have a small problem with my Floor Tom. I have a 14x16 Maple tom, which I can not get the head to tunr right on. I've tried a whole bunch of different tunings, and methods but I don't know if I'm hitting the wrong ones or what. For those of you who use a drum dial I like to tune my heads evenly (top and bottom) and usually leave the Floor Tom at about 75. That's usually where we have them in the store (I work in a drum shop...how embarassing haha) and it always proves to sound nice. My rack and 14in floor tom sound nice and rich. I'm using coated Emperors on all of my toms, but just can't get it right...any feed back?

thanks in advance!
*CHEERS*
-Kevin-

**Kevin.M.Byers**
http://www.myspace.com/yesterdaysheorespunk

Drummer Comments (3)

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ThatDrummerKid Says Re: 16

Submitted On: Friday, May 1, 2009 - 9:50 AM

hmmm, have you ever checked to see if your tom is defective or has something wrong with it? It could be one of many things keeping it from tuning and resonating properly, out of round, messed up bearing edge, etc.. If not just keep trying heads or just stick with what you normally use and just keep looking for that sweet spot on the drum.

drummer21208 Says Re: 16

Submitted On: Thursday, Apr 30, 2009 - 8:41 PM

roflmao. I'm in the club too! Just go by ear. If you have new heads, remember that they are stretching out as you play them. If you really get to rocking out on the set, you can't even tell if its 'off tune' or not. It's just lower than the one before it, so it fits the puzzle.

drumfreak Says Re: 16

Submitted On: Thursday, Apr 30, 2009 - 3:42 PM

Wow, it sounds like you just joined the secret society club of people who have issues tuning the 14" floor toms! Some 14" toms are just a pain in the ass to tune. We always laugh about that here when one of ours goes out. The best thing to do is as Jeff Ocheltree says "Trust your ears". I quit using a drum dial in favor of a low torque power drill (12 Volt on the Lowest torque settings!!!) and I stopped caring about the drum dial as it was such a pain to use accurately.

I use the Drill with either the Gibralter or Evans drill bit keys. After I seat the heads with the drill, if they are not in the ball park I want, I drop tune then tune up each tension rod until the drum comes into range. I pay close attention to top and bottom head relationships and I actually like a bit of downard pitch bend in my floor toms. By having the bottom head tuned slightly lower, I get a really deep and warm sounding drum.

Hope that helps!

BBruins12 Says Re: Re: 16

Submitted On: Thursday, Apr 30, 2009 - 4:36 PM

Helps a little. I generally go by ears first then use the drum dial to even everything out. it helps it stay in tune especially when I'm on the road. Thanks for the advice!