I have sold a couple of old sets this week and have ordered a DW Design Series in Satin Black. It will arrive tomorrow. I have been using a rack for gigs for the past 4 years and I'm really used to the consistency in setup. I was forced to sell my rack with one of the kits or it would not have happened. I have been contemplating going back to stands for a while, so this was not a huge deal. The DW bass drum is of course undrilled. I have been recording myself extensively over the past few years and I can never tell the difference in my bass drum sound between when I have my toms mounted and when I don't. I know there must be some difference, but it seems very minimal. I think mic selection/placement, head choice, and tuning have as much of an impact as the tom mounting situation. This kit will be for live gigs, so the subwoofer and amp quality have a say in the sound as well. Since DW does not ship any tom arms with their new kits (which is weird), I decided to buy a double tom holder and just drill and mount it. I'm sure some will think this is a horrible idea, but I think the convenience outweighs any sound quality loss. I am listing some pros and cons below and I would love any input or anything I may have overlooked. The tom mount is out of stock until next Wednesday, so I do have a few days to reconsider.
Pros:
Tom placement will be consistent.
I won't need heavy double braced cymbal stands to hold them.
I can easily move cymbals around without reworking tom mounts.
I won't get that "bouncy" tom reaction I see with stand mounts.
Cons:
I will loose some resonance. (If I am muffling the drum anyway, will that matter?)
I am hurting the resale value of the drums. (I plan on keeping this kit for the duration, but I've thought that before.)
Mic cross-talk (I do notice when recording that the tom mics produce a little sound when I hit the kick, but I do not close mic my toms live)
I may hurt the look of the kit. (That doesn't bother me much)
The tom holder does slide in a channel, so I can easily remove the top part only if I want to record and not have them mounted. Also, no huge hole gets drilled in the drum to accommodate a down tube.
If anyone has anything I have not thought of, please chime in!
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