Not a fan of the Sonor tom mounting system

[Frank Godiva]

I have owned well over 40 Sonor kits over the years and I often find something I don’t like. It might be that the toms are great but the bass drum is too long or the power tons are too long or my favorite PITA would be the tom mounts.

I grew up on a rail mount MIJ kit cause I’m just that old. That’s a single rack tom mounted left of the lug closest to the center post. Sonor and every other manufacturer puts the rack very close to the center post with that tom hanging over that lug. The other thing I don’t like is the tom arm sticks out the bottom of the mount post; so you can only go as low as the length of the tom arm.

Here’s what I’m talking about:

My Teardrop kits don’t bother me in this regard as the single post mount is the same long length on both sections. I use it with my black label Phonics to get the rack beyond the lug and lower. For my Lites and silver badge Phonics I took a cymbal arm post and replaced the short side of the pipe that went into the tom.

Folks don’t like the post sticking in the drum cause it can shorten the sustain. To solve that issue I tune both heads the same and fine tune it on the mount by spinning it around to get the reso. For virgin toms I use the last generation of the Gauger RIMS mount.

I like my rack left of center and lower then can be had with the stock mounts.

[Jules]

I guess there must be a virtue to the added length of the tom arms, causing them to protrude from the tom holder. But, I think that would be a feature more useful on a stand, so if you wanted one tomorrow low and another one high, you wouldn't be limited on the height, if that makes sense.

I certainly am not disagreeing with you. In fact, a pet peeve of mine is the double cymbal stands. For the same type complaint, as well.

What day of the week do you need that kind of height?

And when you have things set up, unless you do like cymbals really high, these down pipes actually interfere with the wing nut that secures the overall stand height

Screenshot 2025-07-11 at 3.43.26 PM.png (18.9 KiB) Viewed 8654 times

Last time I had a good rig, I used these, but they are discontinued and it takes three components to build them up. At least one or two of the components are out of stock at any particular time.

From different conversations I have had I have a pretty good feeling they are working on new hardware.

[Jules]

Come to think of it, this MIGHT be a solution...

I think it would look less awkward with either a cymbal arm or nothing on the non-tom side and with a tom actually in place. And with the memory lock acting as a safety, it would be rock solid.

[Frank Godiva]

That’s gonna result in the rack being even higher up then the other way around, but your absolutely right that using it that way is great for hanging floor toms as the memory lock really makes it solid.

This is from a 90s Sonor catalog and was the way to do it to get it low enough

I can’t believe I used the word “great” and “hanging floor toms” in the same sentence. I’m an “oxymoron”.

[Jules]

It would let you have your tom the proper space from your bass drum too, even though it might visually take some getting used to.

[Jules]

I have a Sonic Plus Snare drum 14X5. Assembly required.

[krusher74]

I think "hanging floor tom" is an oxymoron.
Either it has legs and is a floor tom or if has a rack mount and is rack tom. its size is irrelevant.

[_spelman_]

One can always cut down excess tubing on tom arms and holders.

[Frank Godiva]

This how I like to setup my rack tom; high and the left of the center post. The single teardrop tom mount was long on both pipes; allowing for a nice long reach. No manufacturers including Sonor, make anything that accommodates for this rack tom position.

[SonorBart]

I would think you could create that with the Basic Arm system for 3/4" Link era mounts, but nothing for the current ones.