Cone Height

[Kris NH]

Is there an advantage to having cones a little taller or a little shorter? I'm converting some Rototoms, and because I can vary the distance between the head and the "spinner" where I'll mount the piezo and cone, I didn't know if more or less material between the head and the element offered any benefits. Thoughts?

Kris

[vjboc]

Is there an advantage to having cones a little taller or a little shorter? I'm converting some Rototoms, and because I can vary the distance between the head and the "spinner" where I'll mount the piezo and cone, I didn't know if more or less material between the head and the element offered any benefits. Thoughts?

Kris

Kris all the cones I have made for my drums have been 1.5" tall. I believe that is the height of the roland cones, So that is what I made mine. I would think you could go shorter than that. I wouldn't go to short though. try out a couple of sizes and see what happens. I'm sure the type of material you use would make a difference to.

[SuperPuss]

The cones on my roto's are significantly shorter than the ones on my toms and gong and they all seem to trigger in a very similar fashion. The choice of foam and head tension seems to be a much greater determining factor in trigger reliability than cone size and height.

[Sabre]

The choice of foam and head tension seems to be a much greater determining factor in trigger reliability than cone size and height.

Agreed. The type of foam used is much more important than it's shape or size.

[SiliconDrummer]

Another thing to consider is that if you make the cone taller than it is wide, it will be less stable and it might lean or tip over. So, you should try making it shorter than it is wide. But, if you make it too short, then you might risk breaking the piezo when you strike the head directly above the cone.

-SD-

[freddarl82]

I agree with all the previous comments. For the record, the Roland cones are 1 3/8". The necessary height required might vary with your application -- I used 1 3/8 on all my "drums" (snare and toms) with the cones in the center, but for my 22" bass, used 1" since it is offset near the edge of the drum (I also did not bother with a cone for this application - it's a simple cylinder shape). As alluded to above, if you are mounting them in a position where the cone will be struck directly, you want enough foam to "protect" the piezo from breakage. I think anywhere in the ballpark of 1 1/4" to 1 3/4" will serve this purpose well.