Show us your '2 rack toms to the left of the bass' kits!

I tried this for awhile last year.

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think I can make good use of these pics: On this thread, show us your Ludwigs, etc. I'm sort of not really a drummer, and very new to the two on the left concept, so I would appreciate any feedback: Especially I'm having trouble with the overlap between my hats and the 12" tom...what does everyone else do? Thanks in advance for any tips!

Anyway, here are my '76 Vistalites. One of the funnest [??] things about this kit is having drummers over and watching them scrunch up their faces at the bad tuning then having them spend an hour before they throw up their hands and declare them un-tunable...Uneven seams, horrible bearing edges that are sometimes offset, and general out of roundness seem to have not concerned Ludwig back in the day...

I received the kit with the 12" tom split open like a coconut. I did a bunch of research and started off by repairing that shell with acrylic glue. But the seams, bearing edges etc. on these vintage acrylics are HORRIBLE! so I'm working my way through the kit fixing things up, starting with the broken tom as a guinea pig. The seam are sort of flat, the bearing edges non-existant [still showing marks from the band saw] so I used some of the 'thick' acrylic glue to filet the seam to make it a smoother transition, sanded the flat bearing edges really flat, then put a 45* bearing edge on it with a router. Suddenly, the drum tunes! I just did the same thing with the 13" tom and as time permits I'm going to go through the entire kit. Maybe that will entice me to drag out the Vista snare which sounds like poop.....

This is a standard 12/13/16/22 kit with original snare. Nothing horribly special but a step up from my Gretch Blackhawks that I had purchased back in 1980 from the Sears bargain basement.
 

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Why does no one else set up their 5-piece this way..?

Hey everyone, this is my first thread on the forum. Having played drums for 18 years I only just this arrived at 'my' set-up - the kit which feels right for all situations. Previously I had a larger set-up with 3 toms along the front and one or two floors - but I hardly ever gigged with it, and often ended up gigging with a four piece for convenience sake. Sometimes I'd add another tom but in the floor tom position - because I needed the ride cymbal easily accessible in the 'rock ride' position... I was either playing long covers sets (don't want shoulder fatigue so needed the ride nearby), or a live drum&bass dance sets (180 bpm so didn't want to be stretching!) or Swing sets (I'm really not a swing drummer, so I wanted everything comfortable with the least distractions).

But I missed having two rack toms, and when I set up a 5-piece with 2 floors I hardly ever used both of them, only in the odd fill here and there.

So for most gigs I've ended up with this - sort of a Chad Smith Blood-Sugar era but without the 2nd floor-tom:

8865953297_435e3bedd4_c.jpg


But you never really see this set-up, and I wondered why?

Apart from the fact that it looks sort of lame (and I'm 33 so don't worry about that stuff too much now! :) ) I love it - the ride is right there, you have 3 toms to play with, and two of them are higher toms which I use more often. The floor is a 14 but I only changed to this when I got Oak Customs which are quite low and fat in tone... Because there's no 16" tom I can fit the whole thing into a small car quite easily, so it's practical and quick to set up. I find it works for rock, jazz, and more proggy-fussiony stuff too. I'd recommend trying it out.

So have you ever set up like this? Basically no 'name' players seem to and nor do any normal drummers I hang out with...
 
Re: Why does no one else set up their 5-piece this way..?

Hey everyone, this is my first thread on the forum. Having played drums for 18 years I only just this arrived at 'my' set-up - the kit which feels right for all situations. Previously I had a larger set-up with 3 toms along the front and one or two floors - but I hardly ever gigged with it, and often ended up gigging with a four piece for convenience sake. Sometimes I'd add another tom but in the floor tom position - because I needed the ride cymbal easily accessible in the 'rock ride' position... I was either playing long covers sets (don't want shoulder fatigue so needed the ride nearby), or a live drum&bass dance sets (180 bpm so didn't want to be stretching!) or Swing sets (I'm really not a swing drummer, so I wanted everything comfortable with the least distractions).

But I missed having two rack toms, and when I set up a 5-piece with 2 floors I hardly ever used both of them, only in the odd fill here and there.

So for most gigs I've ended up with this - sort of a Chad Smith Blood-Sugar era but without the 2nd floor-tom:

8865953297_435e3bedd4_c.jpg


But you never really see this set-up, and I wondered why?

Apart from the fact that it looks sort of lame (and I'm 33 so don't worry about that stuff too much now! :) ) I love it - the ride is right there, you have 3 toms to play with, and two of them are higher toms which I use more often. The floor is a 14 but I only changed to this when I got Oak Customs which are quite low and fat in tone... Because there's no 16" tom I can fit the whole thing into a small car quite easily, so it's practical and quick to set up. I find it works for rock, jazz, and more proggy-fussiony stuff too. I'd recommend trying it out.

So have you ever set up like this? Basically no 'name' players seem to and nor do any normal drummers I hang out with...

Most times you see setups with 2 up and 2 down where the toms are offset... But there is a pretty healthy population of drummers who do this, me included.

Have a look at this thread and find your soul brethren: http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44295&highlight=toms+left
 
Re: Why does no one else set up their 5-piece this way..?

I always set up five pieces that way. I have a difficulty transitioning from tom to tom if they were mounted directly over the bass drum. That's one of the reasons why I'm so fond of the one up, two down configuration, or even just a four piece kit. It's easier for me to go from a high tom to a floor tom, than from a high tom to a "mid-tom" mounted right next to it.
 
heh...thanks!

I actually lucked out with it. My wife and I bought it for our living room, but with any sort of traffic it sheds worse than a dog...perfect solution = drum rug. It hides drum stick shavings very well as a plus!
 
Here are a few shots of my 2 up offset from the kick! I love this setup!







 
not completely left 12 center of kick 10 left
 

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