I'm getting a Ludwig (Bonham) Maple Kit . . .

. . . that's it really. I'm just crowing. Picking it up next week.

Can't wait to get playing it. I expect the scale of it will take some getting used to after my Sonor 22 BD kit. Moving around from that high tom to *two* floor toms will be a struggle at first I guess.

In anticipation I'm also expecting:

Puzzling over how to tune it. I went up in 4ths on my existing kit. But this'll have that extra fl tom.

Will there be head vibration issues on the massive 26 BD?

How the hell will I reach round to that extra floor tom? I so won't be used to that. Prob will gig with just one fl tom I reckon.

Anyone got one?

if you are porting the kick ,the vibrations shouldn't be an issue. The biggest adjustment will probably be the placement of your rack tom.

hitting the second floor will surprise you because its very easy . Make sure to position it a little further away from you than the on closest to the bass drum so you dont have to pull your arms in to hit it.

is that a centennial kit? i got the 5 piece dragster (20x24, 8x12, 15x16, 16x18), and i love it. i replaced all the heads with clear ambassadors, and it is positively thunderous. the floor toms are like diving into a swimming pool that's just the right temperature. i can't wait to hit 'em. i don't know of this "vibration" you're speaking of. as soon as i ditched the stock taiwanese remos, and got an emad2, and clear (that's right, clear) ambassador reso, the kick came alive beyond my expectations, and very forgiving. tight or loose, it really doesn't seem to matter, so i tune it in the middle. it has a lot of sustain and tone, and warmth when played lightly. massive attack when i lay into it. as far as tuning the floor toms, i never tune to a specific note. you may end up outside that drum's sweet spot, and that's drum cruelty (a punishable offense). my floor toms ended up liking being jaw. very low and sonorous. the 16 and 18 ended up at dissonant pitches, which actually makes them sound more cataclysmic. sometimes i set it up with one floor tom on each side- i love having a floor tom on the left. it opens up a world of possibility. these floor toms needed isolation feet, btw. they sounded like tupperware, and danced around like electric football players until i put the pearl air feet on them. you'll know when you get them tuned so they really sing. they hold tune really well, too.

Liebe zeit said:

Moving around from that high tom to *two* floor toms will be a struggle at first I guess. How the hell will I reach round to that extra floor tom?

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Puzzling over how to tune it. I went up in 4ths on my existing kit. But this'll have that extra fl tom.

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Will there be head vibration issues on the massive 26 BD?

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I have a Classic Maple kit in the Bonham configuration. I would recommend tuning higher than you might expect you need to, the resonant head a minor 3rd higher than the batter, and do not use "JAW" tuning on the bass drum. In other words, check out the Jeff Ocheltree clips on how Bonham tuned. Have fun, they're a different animal, but a blast all the same.
Here's my kit...

adam! said:

I have a Classic Maple kit in the Bonham configuration. I would recommend tuning higher than you might expect you need to, the resonant head a minor 3rd higher than the batter, and do not use "JAW" tuning on the bass drum. In other words, check out the Jeff Ocheltree clips on how Bonham tuned. Have fun, they're a different animal, but a blast all the same.
Here's my kit...
View attachment 53764

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Good god that is so gorgeous!

So many threads about tuning the 26"- batter on mine is almost 2 turns up from JAW fyi.

Liebe zeit said:

Puzzling over how to tune it.

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Have a look at this. It might be a bit of help.

Puzzled how to tune? Start from what you know. Then change it if it doesn't work out. I too, have went with "just above wrinkling" tuning, and maybe tensioned it a bit more, but it sounds awesome. I'm not sure the drum needs to be tuned so high. If I get into a situation where it doesn't sound good, I'll do something about it, but right now I'm really happy.

Thanks for the replies, guys. The one I'm getting is the natural maple. Picking it up on Monday.

I'll probably shoot for the high tuning and try the reso higher than the batter thing. I like my drums tuned pretty high and ringy as it is. Looking forward to experimenting.

Congrats on the new kit Liebe Zeit.

I would recommend putting the 18" floor to the left of the hats............I moved my FT there a few years ago and love it now...............makes me change up my fills and I wish I'd have done it sooner.

Good Luck with it and can't wait to see the pics.

Crow away! Congrats on your new kit.

longgun said:

Congrats on the new kit Liebe Zeit.

I would recommend putting the 18" floor to the left of the hats............I moved my FT there a few years ago and love it now...............makes me change up my fills and I wish I'd have done it sooner.

Good Luck with it and can't wait to see the pics.

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+1- same set up for me. Looks odd but feels great.

Finally I got it set up. I'd had it two weeks but was waiting to put new heads on before setting up in my drum dungeon. Anyway, I've had an hour on it so far. Lovin the big boomy bass drum (to felt or not to felt? is a question on my mind right now). Lovin the extra tom tho I've now got a bit of a sore back

Beautiful kit, congratulations and enjoy. I opted to go with felt, and nothing else in the bass.

I'm not totally convinced by the Bonham tuning. High-ish ring-y batters I like, but having the resos much higher still seems to be killing the resonance. I started with my resos a 4th higher on my toms but I'm slackening em off over time. The bass and snare can handle a much higher reso tho

Cool set man. You may want to check out Bo's thread on his new vintage Ludwig acquisition from Conway's collection. If the stand is suffocating the sound of your rack tom, there are some good tips in there on how to get that tom to sing.

Liebe zeit said:

I'm not totally convinced by the Bonham tuning. High-ish ring-y batters I like, but having the resos much higher still seems to be killing the resonance. I started with my resos a 4th higher on my toms but I'm slackening em off over time. The bass and snare can handle a much higher reso tho

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First...LOVE that kit! Im surprised to hear that the higher resos are killing your resonance, its usually the opposite, they make the drums tone a lot better when tuned higher. they actually work instead of just plugging the bottom of the tom. it sounds like you know how to tune if you mention a 4th higher, have you tried even tighter? is it all the toms or just the rack? a lot of people say that the snare stand kills those rack toms.

The Old Hyde said:

First...LOVE that kit! Im surprised to hear that the higher resos are killing your resonance, its usually the opposite, they make the drums tone a lot better when tuned higher. they actually work instead of just plugging the bottom of the tom. it sounds like you know how to tune if you mention a 4th higher, have you tried even tighter? is it all the toms or just the rack? a lot of people say that the snare stand kills those rack toms.

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Cheers. I gigged it for the first time on Sat, and I can't face gigging without it now, but I guess I have to when supporting on pub gigs.

Anyway, I hear ya, Hyde. I'll have a mess with the tuning. It's just I thought maximum resonance came from equal tuning each end so that the reso has maximum sympathy with the batter.

The rack tom's the most resonant of all the toms.