Another no drill tom mount solution

[Tommy D]

This one has been talked about before, but no one really posts photos of it, so I wanted to share mine with y'all. This is the Pearl Opti-Mount (Opta-Mount) bridge mount solution for mounting toms over your bass drum:

The fit is tight as these mounts are not designed to fit on drums larger than a 16/8 lug, but a 22/10 lug bass drum is within spitting distance of the same hole spacing as the 16/8. Since these lugs do not have swivel nuts I had to ever so slightly turn them in towards the center so the tension rods didnt bind up too much. Fortunately these are single point lugs and turning them was easy. I haven't tested this on a drum with regular lug casings and swivel nuts, but I imaging there is enough play in those swivels to pull the claws ever so slightly together and get it to work. Some people have mentioned stepping on the opti-mount and spreading out the receivers, but I have the Opta-mount version (aluminum) and bending them just isnt in the cards considering the chrome plating and the rolling over of metal to provide additional strength. The standard opti-mount (painted steel) should bend pretty easily and is slightly cheaper than the aluminum Opta-mount.

 

[Cauldronics]

Pearl could take a cue here and sell a bunch of drill free rail mounts in all bass drum sizes. I'd buy one.

 

[drumtimejohn]

This is really cool. Thank you!

 

[DanRH]

Nice

 

[CherryClassic]

That's nice.

sherm

 

[MarkB]

Beautiful kit, Tommy. I hear great things about Canopus. Nice setup.

 

[cayjarlson]

That looks great! Are those RFMs? This is a pretty minimal, nondestructive, and robust way to mount basically anything on a bass drum.

I used one of the normal/non-aluminum Opti-Mounts on a weird micro kit with a 16” floor tom conversion. Here’s the thread about those:

Post in thread '80s Pearl DLX conversion project'
https://www.drumforum.org/threads/80s-pearl-dlx-conversion-project.185519/post-2128147

I got the drums for cheap and soon realized the project was going to be a money pit, so I cut some corners and rigged up a (very heavy) Pearl dual-tom mount. It ended up working fine but some day I’d like to cut the BD down and add a mount directly on the shell. A limiting factor for me was using the existing Pearl tom mounts on the toms, which meant using 2 Pearl tom arms. At that point I was already dealing with a lot of hardware and didn’t expect it to be lightweight. The Inde bass drum spurs hold up but the whole situation wobbles more that I would have prefer.

 

[BNK]

I've been weighing buying one of the Mapex rail bass drum mounts for my Yamaha PHX bass drum. Same concept basically as the Pearl but you have to replace four lugs. Been trying to determine if the upper pipe is 7/8" so I can use the Yamaha single tom arm with it but no luck finding the info...

Link

 

[DanRH]

Here's mine on my D'Amico kit. Ludwig rail mount using Atlas drill less mounts on bass drum. Good ole ISO mounts on the toms.

 

[Tommy D]

I've been weighing buying one of the Mapex rail bass drum mounts for my Yamaha PHX bass drum. Same concept basically as the Pearl but you have to replace four lugs. Been trying to determine if the upper pipe is 7/8" so I can use the Yamaha single tom arm with it but no luck finding the info...

Link

I have a Mapex Saturn III kit with that type of mount. I believe the down tube is 1". This Pearl solution has a 7/8" tube diameter which works with the Yamaha mount and won't require you to do any drilling. Remember that the Mapex lugs have 1" hole spacing with only 1 hole that goes all the way through. Not sure what the Yamaha hole spacing is, but I think it's less than 1".

 

[robthedrummer]

Pearl could take a cue here and sell a bunch of drill free rail mounts in all bass drum sizes. I'd buy one.

I actually showed pictures of these on bass drums told Pearl that this would be a very sought-after product at least a couple of years ago. They were unimpressed, but said they'd look into it. I've never understood why they wouldn't want to modify this specifically for bass drums.

 

[T-Dub]

This one has been talked about before, but no one really posts photos of it, so I wanted to share mine with y'all. This is the Pearl Opti-Mount (Opta-Mount) bridge mount solution for mounting toms over your bass drum:

The fit is tight as these mounts are not designed to fit on drums larger than a 16/8 lug, but a 22/10 lug bass drum is within spitting distance of the same hole spacing as the 16/8. Since these lugs do not have swivel nuts I had to ever so slightly turn them in towards the center so the tension rods didnt bind up too much. Fortunately these are single point lugs and turning them was easy. I haven't tested this on a drum with regular lug casings and swivel nuts, but I imaging there is enough play in those swivels to pull the claws ever so slightly together and get it to work. Some people have mentioned stepping on the opti-mount and spreading out the receivers, but I have the Opta-mount version (aluminum) and bending them just isnt in the cards considering the chrome plating and the rolling over of metal to provide additional strength. The standard opti-mount (painted steel) should bend pretty easily and is slightly cheaper than the aluminum Opta-mount.

Clever and creative!

 

[Cauldronics]

I actually showed pictures of these on bass drums told Pearl that this would be a very sought-after product at least a couple of years ago. They were unimpressed, but said they'd look into it. I've never understood why they wouldn't want to modify this specifically for bass drums.

I'm not sure why they'd be a little arrogant about it when their customers already modify the hardware to make it work. The market is already there and waiting for the real deal version.

 

[mkelley]

I remember people doing this almost 20 years ago on Dunnett’s old forum. Great idea then and now. I don’t see why Pearl wouldn’t do this.

Someone else came up with the idea, that’s usually Pearl’s thing. Stealing an idea and act like they came up with it.

 

[bassanddrum84]

Genius idea!!!!

 

[spelman]

I've been weighing buying one of the Mapex rail bass drum mounts for my Yamaha PHX bass drum. Same concept basically as the Pearl but you have to replace four lugs. Been trying to determine if the upper pipe is 7/8" so I can use the Yamaha single tom arm with it but no luck finding the info...

Link

The Mapex bracket accepts 1" tubes. Maybe a Yamaha bracket can be installed instead?. They are both fastened with four bolts.
Underside of Mapex mount:

 

[Drum Mer]

I've been weighing buying one of the Mapex rail bass drum mounts for my Yamaha PHX bass drum. Same concept basically as the Pearl but you have to replace four lugs. Been trying to determine if the upper pipe is 7/8" so I can use the Yamaha single tom arm with it but no luck finding the info...

Link

Why not add the new sleek and compact bd bracket on the exact factory spot?

You wouldn't even have to drill the larger centre hole, just the for mini holes for the screws.


Even if you sell the PHX, and it sits on the factory location, it will sell properly (as people prefer the Yamaha sets with mount I have noticed).[/img]

 

[BNK]

The Mapex bracket accepts 1" tubes. Maybe a Yamaha bracket can be installed instead?. They are both fastened with four bolts.<edit>

I considered that, but looks like the Mapex lug hole spacing might also be an issue as Yamaha hook lugs use one bolt with an alignment pin partially drilled through the shell.

Thanks everyone for the info about the down pipe being 1". I've been getting by with a Tama Classic tom stand which sonically is amazing but positioning wise not ideal.

 

[BNK]

Why not add the new sleek and compact bd bracket on the exact factory spot?

You wouldn't even have to drill the larger centre hole, just the for mini holes for the screws.

Even if you sell the PHX, and it sits on the factory location, it will sell properly (as people prefer the Yamaha sets with mount I have noticed).<edit>

Yeah, I purchased an older style Yamaha mount, (2015 build year appropriate), from Murat but just can't bring myself to have it drilled. Plenty of local drumsmiths around but can't drill through that beautiful natural burl finish.

 

[Tommy D]

I considered that, but looks like the Mapex lug hole spacing might also be an issue as Yamaha hook lugs use one bolt with an alignment pin partially drilled through the shell.

Thanks everyone for the info about the down pipe being 1". I've been getting by with a Tama Classic tom stand which sonically is amazing but positioning wise not ideal.

Mapex does their lugs that way too. There is 1" between the screw and the alignment pin.