Which tom sizes to buy?

[Jovato]

Well, I've decided to let my Mango Burst Mapex Saturn kit go. I feel a little like a forty-something guy who bought a Yellow Ferrari only to wipe it with a diaper and look at it in his garage. In the months that I have owned this kit, it has been out of the house exactly once. I had the Yamaha Al Foster Hipgig kit I just sold for two weeks and did three gigs and two rehearsals with it. I used to haul my old Whitney Drums Nesting Penguin kit anywhere I could find an excuse to. I love the way my Mapex's sound and they look amazing, but they are definitely not for toting around. I wasn't crazy about the way the Al Foster Hipgig sounded, although they mike'd up nicely. They looked good, but I'm no fan of wraps. My Penguins looked fabulous. They sounded fantastic for jazz and pretty solid for rock. However, with a 16" Bass, and 10" and 13" toms they lacked a little oomph.

Anyway, I've decided to pick up another Whitney Drums Nesting kit with larger drum sizes than I had last time. I want something that will cross over nicely between Jazz and Rock. I've decided on an 18" bass drum (their bass drums sound larger than they are) and a 14 inch snare drum (I want the surface for brushes). I'll definitely be getting wood hoops all around. The question is, what size toms should I get. The kit is standard with a 10" and a 14" tom. However, he can make it with an 11" and a 15" tom and still get everything to fit inside the bass drum for travel. I'm sure this configuration would sound great for rock, but do you guys think they would still tune up well for jazz. It isn't that different from a typical 12" and 14" tom pairing you'd see in a typical bop kit. Any thoughts?

Oh, if you are unfamiliar you can check out Whitney Drums here.

www.whitneydrums.com

[JrummerJ]

I'd just stick with the 10 and 14, 11 and 15 will be difficult to find heads for in a pinch. What color are you going to get?

I think that this would be a nice kit, but honestly I wouldn't get rid of the Mango burst. That was the kit I was going to get a few years ago, but opted for a Tama Starclassic Performer since I couldn't find one locally to try out. With the right heads, and maybe adding a small kick or converting a floor into a kick it would be the best of both worlds, just not nesting.

J

[ige87]

Yep, I'd second staying with the standard config. With the right combination of heads, you'll still have a huge tuning range.

[Jovato]

I just spoke with JT Whitney, and the tom sizes would be a 12" and a 15"- not an 11" and 15" like I wrote earlier. Obviously, I could still get the 10" and 14" combination which is standard. Hmnnn.

[ige87]

The 15" is gonna be a bit odd. OK, people have them, but I wouldnt expect to be able to walk into any random drum shop and get a new skin in a rush!

[pasta]

With the big sound of the Whitneys I'd say stay with the 10" & 14". Is a 12" and 14" an option or would the 12" not fit in the 14"?
And those wood hoops are sweet--great choice.
How long did JT say it would take to get a new kit and what color are you going with?

[Jovato]

With the big sound of the Whitneys I'd say stay with the 10" & 14". Is a 12" and 14" an option or would the 12" not fit in the 14"?
And those wood hoops are sweet--great choice.
How long did JT say it would take to get a new kit and what color are you going with?

A 12" won't fit inside a 14". He needs 3" for the drums to nest. JT said it would be six weeks from when he received the order. I'm leaning towards a dark cherry, or a pure red, neither of which are shown on his site.

[JrummerJ]

A 12" won't fit inside a 14". He needs 3" for the drums to nest. JT said it would be six weeks from when he received the order. I'm leaning towards a dark cherry, or a pure red, neither of which are shown on his site.

I like the 10-14 combo, it is a nice interval. I would go with the dark cherry finish, that would look pretty sweet!

J