Why are there no 11 inch toms?

pie

pie

Member
its a question ive always wondered.

we have 13 and 15 inch toms. and would some people want the combo of 11 and 13 rack toms more than 12 and 13 or 10 and 12?

other sizes would be cool too.

17 inch floor tom.

21 inch bass drum.

possibilities are endless..

sigh..
 
would tuning lower or higher reduce the requirement for between sized toms?
 
The only reason I can think of is... it would be difficult finding heads for them.

Dennis
 
pie said:
its a question ive always wondered.

we have 13 and 15 inch toms. and would some people want the combo of 11 and 13 rack toms more than 12 and 13 or 10 and 12?

other sizes would be cool too.

17 inch floor tom.

21 inch bass drum.

possibilities are endless..

sigh..
Click to expand...

I think it would be cool to have all drums in every inch sized from 6 to 30 inches. Drum companies probably wouldn't bother because there is huge oversupply of drums in the current sizes, so why bother with new sizes?

Answer: People would buy them, especially those who want larger sets with every sized drum they can get.
 
I think that the only reason that 13 inch toms are so popular is because standard snare drums are 14 inches and the idea is to help eliminate some snare buzz. I have a 15 inch tom that I no longer play. It sounds weird and it is hard to tune. I never liked it! Once drums get smaller than 12 inches I think that an 11 inch drum would sound very close to a 12, or a 10. I switch back and fourth between setting my 13 and 14 inch rack toms up on my kit depending on my mood. I never use both of them at once anymore.
 
DrumEatDrum said:
Tama did make an 11" tom in the mid to late 80s.

No one bought them.

So they stopped.

And since they stopped, no other company bothered to come out with one.

EDIT: Link to an old Tama catalog showing an 11" tom as an option:
http://www.tamadrum.co.jp/anniversary/expansion.php?cat_id=66&now=3
Click to expand...

I've seen one of these in person back in the early 90s. I couldn't believe it. Must've been really hard to get heads for, and if it's still around, it would be practically worthless because of the head issue -not to mention that this particalar specimen was Tama's "rose" color, which was really HOT PINK! What a ghastly kit that was.
 
I don't know about 11" toms, but after hearing about Neil Peart and his 23" bass drum and why he chose that size, I think I'd love to explore a 21" bass drum, for similar reasons - to get the best of both 20" and 22" sizes in one drum.
 
This is like Spinal Tap reasoning. Why would a 21" bass have the best characteristics of a 20" and 22"? Wouldn't it also share the drawbacks of each size? ;-)

-Ryan
 
pie said:
its a question ive always wondered.

we have 13 and 15 inch toms. and would some people want the combo of 11 and 13 rack toms more than 12 and 13 or 10 and 12?

other sizes would be cool too.

17 inch floor tom.

21 inch bass drum.

possibilities are endless..

sigh..
Click to expand...

Tama made them. no other company followed and the idea pretty much died off as soon as the drums hit the shelves. I wonder if this will be the 23" bass drum's fate as well. For one thing, try finding an 11" drumhead in Kerrville, Texas.


Mike

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Tama in the 80's yeah, they were on a roll. Tama made a snare drum with eleven lugs, instead of ten. They talked it up, came up with a their theory, printed graphs and the thing bombed into collectibility.
 
pie said:
possibilities are endless..
Click to expand...
Yes, but the supply of buyers are not. The Tama 11, 13, 15 combo flag was flown.......and few saluted. They show up on eBay every once in a while. Less than 6 months ago, I saw one for sale.
 
Ainulindale said:
a better question might be - why are there 13" toms???
Click to expand...

Because there are. Law of increasing returns. They've been around forever, are well established, and a lot of people like them - including me. I have a 12" that's collecting dust, and I never could make friends with a 14" floor tom, so I have a 15", which is not super common. What are you gonna do? No accounting for bad taste, I guess!
 
I would personally be over the moon if they started making 19" kicks..... and heads to go on them, lol.
 
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