Floor tom mounting hardware

[wocketpatch]

Hi all, I'm trying to turn a couple old 15" toms into floor toms but wanted to see if anybody has a cheap method for doing this, or a suggestion for a cheap parts source or even hardware store alternatives. The cheapest I've found the brackets that attach to the shell is about $10 each which would be about $60 for two toms, and that's not even including the actual legs.. Thanks!

[pcs90]

I'd be interested in this as well, if anyone has any ideas...

[drmpunk]

A lot of music stores sell the legs and the brackets, you will have to drill holes in the drums to give them legs or use the baskets they sell for floor toms

[wocketpatch]

yes I have shopped for the legs at a couple local shops (and online) and I have power tools. Basically I am trying to turn two cool 70s marching snares into a floor tom and a stand-alone snare with a big sound. But I'm having a hard time spending the hundo on converting them because the actual drums themselves weren't much more than that.

[N2Bluz]

The cheapest way would be to buy some used brackets and legs off eBay. Buying that kind of stuff new is OK if your only replacing a few broken pieces, but it's not really cost effective if your buying a lot of it for a budget drum project. I usually buy any old cheap drum kit (under $100) that I come across....just for stuff like lugs, hoops, brackets, tension rods, etc..

[HolyChina]

couldn't you just have mounted floor toms (if they already have those mounts. the only other idea would possibly if there is one big enough use a snare drum stand. bu that might put them to high. theres also websites that sell stuff for building drum sets maybe try there

[SpazApproved]

yeah I've bought old drums and etc for parts for cheap.

[Ray on the Drums]

You're running low on options.

[slinglander]

How portable should these toms be? See Ray's photo: measure and screw on three legs made of plastic or PVC pipe sections. If you need them to be more adjustable, shorten the legs so they barely hang down beyond the bottom hoops and use connecting fittings on the lower leg segments.

[wocketpatch]

They should be fairly portable -- part of the reason I got them in the first place was I was looking for a smaller floor tom than my 16" for traveling, and these 15" snares just caught my eye. Although a mounted tom seems like the easiest solution, that doesn't really work for me because on some songs I play a synth with my right hand, which I set on the floor tom. I've done it with mounted toms before but they have just a little bit too much sway under the weight of the synth when I'm playing it, even though the synth is actually very light. It's a little hard to deal with if things shift around too much cause I'm trying to keep the beat with my other hand. Pretty much everything I found on eBay that was used is really expensive vintage stuff. I'm gonna scan craigslist for some 'busted' floor toms tomorrow but it's sounding more and more like I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and buy a set of legs and mounts for each one.

[Five Magics]

Can they mount onto a cymbal stand? I have a multi-clamp hardware made by Pearl that mounts onto a cymbal stand. It has 3 holes: 1 used for the stand and the other two holes for tom, cymbal, cowbells, etc. What you see here is a 13" tom connected with the multi clamp that also has a cymbal stand and cowbell attached. I'm sure if you check out the hardware section they have it. Worth a shot anyway.

[wocketpatch]

Yeah, mounting the tom to a cymbal stand WOULD be a workable solution, but as I was saying the floor tom sometimes doubles as a keyboard stand, and without legs there just isn't enough support to keep it steady while I'm trying to play -- though the one in the picture does look a little more robust than the mounted toms I've tried in the past, so I suppose I shouldn't write it off completely..

[N2Bluz]

Setting a keyboard on it will add extra weight, which may create issues with the cymbal stand being off balance.

[Five Magics]

Yeah, mounting the tom to a cymbal stand WOULD be a workable solution, but as I was saying the floor tom sometimes doubles as a keyboard stand, and without legs there just isn't enough support to keep it steady while I'm trying to play -- though the one in the picture does look a little more robust than the mounted toms I've tried in the past, so I suppose I shouldn't write it off completely..

The hardware stand is very sturdy considering all the weight it's holding (yes even for a Westbury). When I play on the tom there is no ringing in the cymbal or cowbell so it does it's job. However at one point I had a tambourine mounted instead of the cowbell and everytime I played the tom the tambourine shook (which isn't necessarily a bad thing)