cutting down a shell: how much will leave the spacing even?

[bon viesta]

i’m wanting to send precision drums a 15x14 floor tom to cut down into 15x12, but im wondering if that size will lead to the lugs on the reso side being too close to the hoop. if that’s the case, would something like a 15x13 down to a 15x12 leave it even? i think of john bonhams thermogloss 14x12 that was cut down to 14x10 and somehow has perfect lug spacing.

and this is ludwig here, so that’s gives you an idea of how close the lugs are to the hoop.

 

[Tommy D]

What is the spacing of the first lug hole off the current bearing edge? Your lugs are probably the standard size, so their hole spacing should be 1 11/16". Cutting 2" off may work if you cut to the end of the first hole then cut a little off the other side to match the spacing of the lugs equally on each side. Then you cut new "second holes" off the remaining holes from the original jug position. This would probably result in this new tom having lug positions that are closer to a rack tom vs a floor tom. I'm not sure if Lugwig positions their lugs further from the bearing edges on floor toms like Tama used to do, but if they do, that could make the 2" total depth removed more of a reality.