Roto-Tom mounting options

punkin

Univalve & Avatar Speaks
I'm writing this on behalf of my 12 year old son. He plays one of our SONOR kits here at the studio. It has recently been equipped with a Pearl DR503C drum rack...a three sided curved set up. Pretty nice if you ask me. Please forgive me I'm not entirely knowledgable when it comes to drums.

Here's the deal...he has a set of three Roto-Toms. They came on a self supporting stand with a very awkward looking horizontal mounting bar. We've been able to place the entire vertical section of the stand into one of the mounting brackets on the rack, thereby eliminating the under foot clutter by getting rid of the tripod assembly. The problem is, he still can't get optimal placement of the heads. Pull one side in and the other side pushes back...that sort of thing.

I'm looking for alternative mounting options for these damn things. The bracketry that supports the toms really looks to be a cobbled set up. Anyone ever find a better way to seperate the toms so that you can adjust the high and dept of each of the toms individually?

Thanks for taking the time. Before you go off bustin' my chops about how Roto-toms are so 80's, remember, this was a gift to a kid that just HAD to have them. He's a happy little camper and what the hell...he practices...A LOT.
 
Okay, I'm going to let the cat out of the bag, but here's how you do it.


You buy three L arms, and a die (as in too land die), and you thread the L arms so that the rototoms will mount on them. It's expensive to do it this way if you';re using a pearl rack, because you have to buy the kind of L arms that come mounted in a 3/4" post, but it will give you complete freedom for mounting them.

What I would do, is buy the Gibraltar kind that come with a 1/2" diameter grip on one side, and buy Pearl extensions - these are 18" long pieces of pipe with a ratchet claw/multi-clamp on the other end, so you mount the pipe to the rack just like a tom arm, and then put the L arm in the claw, and each rototom is threaded onto it's own movable, independently positional tom arm.

If I remember Correctly, you need a 10.5mm Tom arm to thread for the Rototom, but I can't remember the thread size for the die - if I can find mine, I'll tell you the exact threading size - it's a standard size though - you should be able to take the threaded carriage bolt that the roto tom is mounted to into your local DIY superstore, and find the right die for it.




Tim
 
What the hell was I thinking.

If you use th Pearl Extensions, you don't even need the L arms!

What you need is 3 Pearl #UX-80. These are the Pipe Extensions I was talking about, and they are 18" Long.

What you WILL need, is a piece of 1/2" metal pipe.

Cut the pipe into 2" long pieces.

Starting with the 6" rototom, take each of the rototoms off of their carriage bolt.
Then remove the "lock arm" that you clamp them to the crossbar with.

Put the piece of pipe on the bolt, then put the lock arm back on, and thread the rototom back onto the bolt.

tighten the lock arm against the pipe, and make sure the pipe is tightly secured in between the head of the bolt and the lock arm.

You have just made a 1/2" grip for the multi-clamp on the #UX-80 to be able to grab onto, AND you also saved yourself around $50 because you didn't have to buy those three L arms (The Gibraltar type you need for this average $11-$15 each) plus you don't need to buy the Tap & Die set.


Or, you could use 3 Pearl Tom arms, and 3 Multi clamps, but you'll have to have the 1/2" pipe on the rototoms no matter what to make sure the jaws of the multiclamp have something serious to be able to grab onto.


Tim
 
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Try contacting REMO first. They are the original manufactureres of roto-toms, and used to offer single holders...essentually 6" versions of your 3' horizontal bar. They may have some old stock kickin' around.
 
PYRRHO said:
Try contacting REMO first. They are the original manufactureres of roto-toms, and used to offer single holders...essentually 6" versions of your 3' horizontal bar. They may have some old stock kickin' around.

Ah man, that Track bar idea was crap from the moment Terry Bozzio introduced it during the late 70's when he was playing with U.K.




Tim
 
I was thinking of multiclamp too..., but they would not grab too thin roto's rode. Tim got some good idea on how to deal with it. Kind of complex too :)
I was looking around and thinking how would it be possible to mount a single rototom with what I already have around.... (without making anything that is)... so one idea actually worked pretty good, but this would do good if you already have some cymbal boom stands around (or in the case with rack - boom arm holder with no base). I've noticed that cymbal tilter's mechanism can be used as clamp for roto-tom's rode. I've tried and it worked pretty well. I've tried it with TAMA's stand.... you just need to remove the spring from tilter's mechanism. It's easier to see one time then to read about... so I've made quick pic: click here for photo
well, that's just an idea...
/respects
 
Tim Brown said:
Ah man, that Track bar idea was crap from the moment Terry Bozzio introduced it during the late 70's when he was playing with U.K.




Tim
That's right - I forgot Bozzio took over for Bruford. Still love that first record, though. "Alaska/Time to Kill" - great track. :cool:

Sorry for this useless OT post, punkin!
 
You can still get the "track bar" material in various lenghts but I just hate the way you run the bolt head down the rail then use this tiny little plate with the slot cut out which clamps the whole assembly down with this chincy little screw. It's just flimsy. I can see where it might be a little more secure for one or two toms but if you've got three, the big one weighs a bit ya know.

Any ways. I've got some great advice from you guys. I'm going to do a little shopping tomorrow and stop off at the hardware store. Wanna bet I don't get everything I need at the GC?!
 
punkin said:
You can still get the "track bar" material in various lenghts but I just hate the way you run the bolt head down the rail then use this tiny little plate with the slot cut out which clamps the whole assembly down with this chincy little screw. It's just flimsy. I can see where it might be a little more secure for one or two toms but if you've got three, the big one weighs a bit ya know.

Any ways. I've got some great advice from you guys. I'm going to do a little shopping tomorrow and stop off at the hardware store. Wanna bet I don't get everything I need at the GC?!


Well, if you just had a gibraltar rack - you could get the L arms, and thread them, and they would go right in the Gibraltar tom clamps.

The sad thing is, any way you do it is going to cost a little - that's the downside to rototoms.

I love the sound of rototoms and have a complete set of them (6"-18"), but the mounting scheme definitely sucks.


Tim
 
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