Good thread and great posts too.
Vipercussionist made some great points in his post.
I think people will gravitate to a certain type of sound and feel myself, and luckily with the availability of custom sizes, people can get what they want out of their kit if they want something different.
I've had 20(1), 24 (2), 26 (a bunch) & 28" (2) bds.
Personally, I love the 26.
I love the feel, the sound and the look of it.
I've never had a sound person NOT like my larger drums or complain about it.
BUT, I was also willing to put in the time to get it up & running right, & I'm also willing to pay the extra amount & order the heads, the case, type of vehicle to haul it around...because I love the sound and the feel, and the look.
HOWEVER...I have also played
many smaller bass drums that sounded great though the PA, and felt pretty good, but, they didn't make me feel as good when I played them.
Smaller drums can feel easier to play certain things, but I think it's more in how a person would naturally play anyway in what type kick they'd desire.
The points Mikei and Viper made about the bigger drums sounding great played softer, and if you need to, to really be able to drive the thing is really true.
Bun E. Carlos is a great example of the bigger kick working.
He uses a 26 these days, but he used a 28 in the past (Budokan kit, and a Maple kit in the 90's on CD and on DVD).
They sounded fantastic and worked great for the myriad of songs that Cheap Trick does.
They also record great, and aren't "difficult" to work with--they just sound different than a "regular" drum.
If you go in
knowing it's GOING to sound different, then there's no problem.
I can do anything I need with my 26, but, I'm also playing rock, and not Jazz, so I can use a bigger drum.
Smaller bass drums/toms just became "the sound" for a lot of Jazz, and it can just sound "wrong" with a bigger kick--it's been pulled off, but 99% of the time, it just sounds "right" with a 18-22" bass drum.
The limited availability of bigger drums is one reason that a lot of people really don't even think about getting a larger kick, but since it's being offered by a few companies, it's become a little more common--especially with a 24 which isn't a tiny drum either.
Companies like Ludwig used to offer 22, 24, & 26" kicks with sets, but people stopped buying such big drums because PA's got better--and drummers didn't have to compete with guitar player on 10 with a double Marshall stack!!! ...and it
is easier to carry a smaller drum....
Sales dropped, so companies dropped or limited the offering on 26's.
With a 22 --which NOW with the 18" deep shell has really become more a good compromise between the big sound it
can get (if someone wants to tune it that way), and the sound of a bigger drum.
Is it the same kind of "big" sound?
No, but it still has power through a PA (if needed), and it's less money for the drum/heads/case, easier to carry/load in a car...and maybe someone doesn't need or want that big a sound...maybe they're just a pansy...hahahaha
just kidding!!!!
Ease of multiple tom placement over a smaller drum is just obvious, so if you like a lot of toms, yeah, a smaller bass drum is more in line with that.
I never had a problem with 3 toms over my 24 though.
I really loved my 20x28" kick, and I used it for 10 years, but it finally became too much of a pain to transport.
I have a mini-van, and a case with wheels for it to make it easier, but it was not as desirable to me anymore just to have the bigger drum, when the 26 had all the qualities I wanted too, so I pansy-d out and went with the 26