Not another virgin bass drum thread

[drummermark]

This is truly just a curiosity that I have and not to bestow the virtues of a virgin bass drum or one with mounts. I’m seeing some new listings of SQ2s at DCP and while they have really sharp finishes, if I were in the market and could compromise on not getting exact shell sizes, I would be turned off by the fact that all of the 5 or 6 kits they have available, all virgin kicks. I know it’s personal preference but man, I love having mounted toms mostly cause I’m not interested in carrying extra hardware to gigs. So, am I in the minority? I assume they order kits in that config cause that’s what their customers are buying. Even with Momentum not offering mounts, I assume Sonor is doing what the market dictates.

[DaveInNZ]

I can't add much to this other than the fact I ordered all my Vintage Series bass drums with mounts except for the 24, which is a virgin drum, same as my Pearl President 26". The logic there is that if I ever needed to gig the kits, I'd be highly unlikely to be taking out the big drums anyway, so having the versatility of the mount on the smaller drums was a 'why not?'

In practice in the home studio, I haven't actually used the bass drum mount for anything in like three years, so they're largely pointless. Currently.

[Jules]

My personal opinion: MOUNTS all day long. You can also get DCP to get a mount installed by a guy that is great at it. Not sure why they don't explain that on the site.

Is there a public consensus that having extra hardware and weight dampens the bass drum sound, or something? Or it the trend more to do with a sleeker look in the general vicinity of the bass drum/tom area without the cluster of chrome?

FWIW: My Tama Starclassic Walnut/Birch (or vice versa - I don't care) bass drum definitely sounded more open and resonant before putting on the mount and toms, but that wasn't really the bass drum sound I was going for.

[SonorBart]

I have a severe dislike for cymbal stand mounted rack toms - they're a pain in the ***. My four kits all have a double tom mount on the bass drum and I did the drilling myself on the Delite/Designer Orphans, SQ2, and Vintage Series. I use a middle pedal and need the mount about 4" closer to the front head than the factory position allows. I think a lot of the isolation thing is a holdover from the 90's. I've got either foam or small pillow muffling inside all but the 20" Lite that I use for Jazz (it has felt strips), I rarely play them unmiked, and they sound great.

[drummermark]

Glad to see some pro mount responses! And as expected, it depends. Agree that if I had a kit that never left my house, once it’s set up, wouldn’t be an issue. Or I’d use a rack. But for gigs, any extra piece of hardware that I DON’T have to bring, the better. I’ve never played anything larger than a 22 and could see tom placement on a larger diameter being an issue. As far as resonance goes, it’s like the hanging floor toms fad of the 90s. Considering that most everyone shoves some sort of muffling in the kick, what ever resonance you’d gain from a virgin kick is lost. I would think that dealers who stock any brand’s flagship model, would carry at least one with tom mounts.

[Scott_M]

As much as I like the look of a virgin kick (especially with some of the more exquisite finishes) , I find having the tom mount on the kick to be more useful and doesn't negatively impact the sound of the kick drum to a perceptible amount.

When I ordered my SQ2 kit I knew I wanted the option for the mount and debated between the Rosette or the Rocket Launcher for quite a while. Went with the Rosette style on both kicks as it's more versatile and flexible as far as what I could do with the hardware, including choosing not to use it for a given setup.

[krusher74]

I wonder if in DCP case the decision is two-fold.

1: A virgin base drum gives the most flexibility for the customer, take it virgin, or have a standard/rocket launcher fitted for extra $.

2: Adding standard double mount 190euro, adding rocket launcher 650euro, both only let you mount the toms, add two 400 boom cybal and tom mount stand 500euro. Now you can mount two toms and two cymbals. Maybe these speced with 2 cymbals stands is a seller on a spec SQ2 sales floor set.

I personally like a bass drum mounts and sonors modular old system, and have 2 toms and a splash cymal on mine