Floor Toms w/o Legs?

[Mickstix]

Im gonna show my age and possibly my stupidity.. lol Last time I owned/was around a kit (many years ago) the floor toms all had legs.. Now Im looking around on Craigs list, thinking about getting back into it and Im seeing quite a few kits with the floor attached to a stand.. Is this something new or was I just ston..., not paying attention back in the day?
How do you guys like these stand mounted floors? Do you like the sound? (They appear kind of shallow for a floor tom?) Is it just convenience for gigging or is there some other reason they did away with the legs? Thanks for the info!

Kits I saw like this: Pearl Custom Session; DW Collector, & I think a Yamaha Stage Custom..

[js218]

Have a 14" & 16" suspended floor toms, with the right heads the sound good. I'm using Aquarian Performance heads......



Jim

[jgziegler]

yea defo possible, however, you do need pretty robust stands for them, and I personally think for a 16" that's quite heavy and I'm not sure of the pay off...anyway, you can buy the legs if they are missing so i wouldn't let that affect your buying decision

[SpazApproved]

My Yamaha Maple Custom only came with suspended floor toms. (STM = suspended tom mounts) and my PDP/DW kit the 16" was optional so now I have it set up on the STM.

Me personally I love the STM setup and feel spoiled by it. No more hassle of putting legs together and setting the heights. I know a lot of companies now have started making memory locks for the legs but then you still have to make sure you label the legs in correct order and place the drum in the right position... yadi yadi yadi.. now I just place the tom on the stand and call it a day.


Here's an older pic but you can see the suspended toms

[Mickstix]

Thanks for the info! Yea, those suspended toms with the cage around them is also new to me.. lol Those PDPs look sweet though!! I'd trust a rack to hold em, but I'd have to give it a good long test before trusting a 16" attached to a cymbal stand.. Im sure hardware has come a ways since I played as well.. Just getting back into the swing of it all!! Thanks again!!

[kay-gee]

Thanks for the info! Yea, those suspended toms with the cage around them is also new to me.. lol Those PDPs look sweet though!! I'd trust a rack to hold em, but I'd have to give it a good long test before trusting a 16" attached to a cymbal stand.. Im sure hardware has come a ways since I played as well.. Just getting back into the swing of it all!! Thanks again!!

nothing beats legs. After all, it's a FLOOR tom.

all the best...

[SunDog]

Hiya Mick. Welcome. Well you may have been st#ned back in the day, but rest assured floor toms did have legs, and many/most we're deeper. The suspended tom or isolated tom started to really gain momentum in the early 90's and subsequently suspended floor toms (oxymoron I know). It's meant to let the shell "float" in the mount and resonate better. Bass drums with no tom mounting hardware, ie. no hole, are also the "new cool". Don't fear the shallower drums, they are quite thunderous. Also thinner shells are very popular. My floor toms are surprisingly light (my 20" bass drum will make you say "holy s#%t" at how little it weighs). Thinner drums have a very low pitch and resonate more fully than thicker shells. The debate about which is better (thinner vs. thicker) is ongoing, so I won't lead you there. So......a lot to digest, but these are definitely the salad days for drummers. The best of everything is available to us now and at more affordable prices.

[jgziegler]

@spaz, I wasnt thinking in terms of a rack set up, i meant mounted on a stand.

i keep up this drumming thing, I will very likely go rack and never look back one day. Even on a 5 piece kit i suspect it's worth it...

[Mickstix]

Thanks for the welcome, added info, and it's good to know I was not completely dazed and confused!

[SpazApproved]

@spaz, I wasnt thinking in terms of a rack set up, i meant mounted on a stand.

i keep up this drumming thing, I will very likely go rack and never look back one day. Even on a 5 piece kit i suspect it's worth it...

Both this kit of mine and my Yamaha Maple custom had STM floor toms not on a rack. They both used a nice heavy duty double leg braced stand.

I'll see if I can find even older photos.