Why 13 inch toms?

  • Thread starter Thread starter RezN8
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RezN8

RezN8

Blick-um, blick-um...
I was wondering why standard kits typically come with a 13 inch tom. My best guess is:

1. Kits are more easily stackable (standard kits are 12" & 13" mounted toms 14" snare and 16" floor tom so you can easily stack them, especially on showroom floors).

2. A 13" tom might not interfere with a 14" snare as much tonally.

Why do you think?
 
An old (as in age) drumming friend told me it was because that was the size that hat boxes came in. Drums as we know them did not exist, there weren't any companies like keller, so they had to use what was availible I suppose.
Rory
 
Funny thing is, I've never met a 13" tom that liked me. On every kit I've ever owned, that 13" always sounded a little worse thant the rest, I just can't tune 'em. Maybe I was meant to play a 4-piece kit.
 
RAMI said:
Funny thing is, I've never met a 13" tom that liked me. On every kit I've ever owned, that 13" always sounded a little worse thant the rest, I just can't tune 'em. Maybe I was meant to play a 4-piece kit.
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You probably hadn't tuned it high enough.

Most drummers that I know tend to tune their drums fairly low.
I've found that 13" and 15" toms tend to sound better when tuned a little higher, and the resonant (bottom) head is higher in pitch that tne batter (top) head....otherwise, they start sounding really "boxy" sounding.



Tim
 
Well the research is there, I'm sure of it. The best overall tone and body to satisfy the general client. The best "overall package".

Not everybody likes a fusion set up, and not everybody likes an overblown "early 90s pearl jam" set up. (with floor toms for fucking rack toms, jesus christ).

Some manufacturers make a "fusion" offset, with smaller drums for those "fusion" enthusiasts.

I don't see the huge pearl jam sets anymore. Maybe people got tired of trying to fit that shit in a van. Especially when a normal drum set, playing well and good engineering can achieve the same thing.

I would dare to guess that at least half of the people who purchase a drum set have no idea what drum depth and diameter do for the sound. They just want something that "looks just like on TV".

Or if they have an idea that deeper means "fuller", they don't venture far beyond that knowledge.

Of course, the next step up is custom ordering. I highly doubt you're gonna find RHCP's Chad Smith on the phone with Musicians Friend finalizing a drum set order.
 
LeeRosario said:
Well the research is there, I'm sure of it. The best overall tone and body to satisfy the general client. The best "overall package".

Not everybody likes a fusion set up, and not everybody likes an overblown "early 90s pearl jam" set up. (with floor toms for fucking rack toms, jesus christ).

Some manufacturers make a "fusion" offset, with smaller drums for those "fusion" enthusiasts.

I don't see the huge pearl jam sets anymore. Maybe people got tired of trying to fit that shit in a van. Especially when a normal drum set, playing well and good engineering can achieve the same thing.

I would dare to guess that at least half of the people who purchase a drum set have no idea what drum depth and diameter do for the sound. They just want something that "looks just like on TV".

Or if they have an idea that deeper means "fuller", they don't venture far beyond that knowledge.

Of course, the next step up is custom ordering. I highly doubt you're gonna find RHCP's Chad Smith on the phone with Musicians Friend finalizing a drum set order.
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When did Pearl Jam's drummer ever use a big drumset?
I've never seen Dave A. use more than a 5-piece kit, and usually he had a small rack tom - like a 10" or 12".



Tim
 
For some reason, I seem to like more "even" sized toms (10,12,14) than "odd" sized ones (11,13,15). They always seem easier to get tuned correctly....maybe it's just me?
 
RAMI said:
Funny thing is, I've never met a 13" tom that liked me. On every kit I've ever owned, that 13" always sounded a little worse thant the rest, I just can't tune 'em. Maybe I was meant to play a 4-piece kit.
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Neither have I...it's a curse!
 
i have a 13, and LOVE it. It is a little harder to tune than all the other drums, but that is because there is a big space inbetween my 10 and 16 to tune it!
 
I think there are a few reasons for 13's.

The first five-piece kits were made by Rogers and came with two 12's mounted to the bass drum (correct me if that's not the first). These old kits show up on ebay from time to time. Having two 12's wasn't very popular, because it was reduntant I guess. So, they changed one to a 13.

Why not a 14? True, a 14 causes more sympathetic resonance of the snare than other sizes. Another reason is the depth of the drum. Since it is mounted on the bass drum, a deeper shell means the drums have to be mounted higher. A 14x10 has to be mounted an inch higher than a 13x9, increasing the reach from the snare to both toms. Yet another reason is weight. The mounted toms are supported by about 1/4" thickness of wood on the bass and the shell could crack. There were also early issues with mounting hardware that just couldn't do the job with heavier drums. By the time the hardware caught up, the 13 was already a standard. It's meant to be played in conjunction with the 12 anyway, so a bigger difference in size isn't necessarily productive, depends on the style.

Remember that the very first toms were traditional temple drums from China with tacked calf heads. Those drums and their sizes set the stage.
 
Tim Brown said:
When did Pearl Jam's drummer ever use a big drumset?
I've never seen Dave A. use more than a 5-piece kit, and usually he had a small rack tom - like a 10" or 12".



Tim
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Wait, was it pearl jam or Nirvana? I just saw this early 90s grundge documentary thing, interviewing all sorts of the famous 90s bands. However, I'm not a big fan of the grundge era (I guess it shows).
 
LeeRosario said:
Wait, was it pearl jam or Nirvana? I just saw this early 90s grundge documentary thing, interviewing all sorts of the famous 90s bands. However, I'm not a big fan of the grundge era (I guess it shows).
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Must have been somebody else because neither drummer used a big drumkit.

I on the other hand, use a big drumkit, and love it. :D



Tim
 
I'm also the user of a very large kit. Its an old early 80's Tama in perfect shape. Every drummer that comes in laughs at its size then they sit behind it and realize its magic.
 
Tim Brown said:
When did Pearl Jam's drummer ever use a big drumset?
I've never seen Dave A. use more than a 5-piece kit, and usually he had a small rack tom - like a 10" or 12".



Tim
Click to expand...

It was on Saturday Night live in 1990. Dave was using a 16" floor tom as a rack tom. Also had a 16" or 18" as a floor tom. Black kit! Looked huge! like Herman Rarebell from the Scorpions was missing half his kit in the 80's.
 
PhilGood said:
It was on Saturday Night live in 1990. Dave was using a 16" floor tom as a rack tom. Also had a 16" or 18" as a floor tom. Black kit! Looked huge! like Herman Rarebell from the Scorpions was missing half his kit in the 80's.
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Okay, I thought he was talking about a large number of drums.

Grohl always used that kit with Nirvanah. It's either a Tama Artstar or Granstar kit with a 15" rack and 18" floor tom and a 24" kick. It just goes to show how your perspectives change - since I normally just used the one 15" rack tom - it feels like anything smaller is really tiny. I think it's because I tune the drums higher in pitch, they just don't seem so large.



Tim
 
The weird thing is this-

6,8,10 and 12 inch toms are separated by 2 inches.

12,13,14,15 and 16 inch toms are separated by one inch.

From the 16 incher then you go back to 2 inch increments which are 18 and 20 inches.

Bass Drum sizes are separated by 2 inches(18 through 26)

I dunno....
 
I remember that my choice of Drum Kit Items was motivated by the fact that most everyone else was using the same "standard issue" stuff so to speak.

If everyone was using 14 inch New Beats,I followed Neil Pearts example and got 13's.

I didn't want a 22 or 24 inch bass drum-I used a 20 with hardly anything inside it.

21 or 22 inch rides,lathed? No thank you.The day I saw that 20 inch Earth Ride from Zildjian,I knew it would set me apart from the crowd in my town.The Earth wasn't lathed,or buffed up to a gold finish-It was stamped out "raw",that's it.
No "wash" and when you laid into the bell,you knew it.

Think Zildjian "K's" are just for jazz?Nope,they're just another sonic color to work with so I got an 18 incher.

My tom sizes were 6,8,10 Roto Drum combo,a 12" rack tom and a 14 inch floor tom.I also had a cowbell/agogo bell tree,a 12 inch "A" splash and a 13"
steel timbale(CB700 I think) that I needed for "Glamour Boys" and "Evil Ways",among others.

To top it off,a couple of china types and a device that was an old 12" brass cymbal,with rivets, sitting on top of an old caddy hubcap that I used for white noise hits.

Wow....what memories...

Nowadays,hey,just give me a set of V-Drums.....
 
RAMI said:
Funny thing is, I've never met a 13" tom that liked me. On every kit I've ever owned, that 13" always sounded a little worse thant the rest, I just can't tune 'em. Maybe I was meant to play a 4-piece kit.
Click to expand...
that's funny, b/c it's the complete opposite with me. my 13 fits GREAT with my 12 and 16, maybe it's the heads or something (clear G2 over clear G1)
 
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