Think the easiest change over would be to get some generic legs and bend / modify then to use on the existing mounts to hold the tom in place - either on the floor or raised as required for the pedal beater.

Further changes that could be reversed pretty easily would be wood hoop on batter and or front to use with bass heads.

Thanks! Yeah, the pearl kit comes with bent legs that fit the same mounts, and a riser. Hasn’t thought about swapping out hoops - so, you’re suggesting changing out hoops and heads when switch back and forth? (Versus some kind of “compromise” solution that could sound decent for either application, just retuning?)

Either hoops will work. Tom and BD heads are different, so try with standard hoops and see what you think. Personally, I like the look of wood hoops on my bd's no matter the size. Have 2 sets with converted toms and wood hoops and they very much carry themselves visually.

If you want to switch hoops from, say die cast to wood, you will need to get lugs that can be swiveled: Like the Pearl BRL lugs...Normal lugs cannot reach above the thickness of the wooden hoops: Like the Pearl BRL lugs.

https://drumsonsale.com/pearl-lugs-masterworks-reference-small.html

Usually you are correct. But I have seen some tom lugs still work, but with expected splay of the tension rods. It will depend on the brand as you suggest.

Ah, thanks for that suggestion - hadn’t considered the lugs either. I think initially I’m going to try just using the stock tom hoops and see how it goes. Wood bass drum hoops look nicer, but I’m not as concerned with the aesthetics - i imagine they sound more legit as well, but I’ll experiment with heads and tuning first.

Are there any heads I should try that could sound reasonable both tuned down for kick and higher for floor tom purposes? Or as a kick does it really need a proper bass drum head?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlRomYAp2_8"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlRomYAp2_8[/ame]

Your choice of conversion kit depends in part on what diameter of legs your floor tom uses. The Gibraltar video Olimpass posted comes in 10.5 mm and 12.7 mm. These are both too big for some older American drums like Ludwig. They need 9.5 mm. If you go with a conversion kit which needs larger lugs then you are up for lug changes. If you find a method which fits your existing lug sizes then you don't have to change as many components.

I do like the Dunnett idea for using the 3rd floor tom mount as the tom mount for your top tom. My kit had an extra stand (12" snare stand) for a 10" tom. But the Dunnett/Gibraltar system came out after I got my kit.

Mine had a Trick mounting system on this kit made with Ludwig 80s shells

[img]http://black.net.nz/drums/littleLud1.JPG[/img]

I just used Ambassador Coated heads front and back. No change to hoops, and all you need to do to go back to it being a floor tom is swap the legs back. I don't think Trick make that kit anymore. It was Tama sized (10.5) so the Ludwig tom mounts were replaced with Tama ones. Those used the same hole pattern so no drilling. The part you can't see is the pedal attachment which Trick made from an LP percussion claw bolted to a piece of angle iron. Very simple but stable and effective. Since replaced by a different Trick riser which looks to be less flexible in handling different diameter toms (eg two different models for 16" vs 18" toms, but what if you have a 15"?)

For bass drums 16" and smaller I don't really like the sound when they are placed directly on the floor, so I would always have some sort of riser on the back and attach the pedal to that. This means there isn't any functional advantage to going for wooden hoops. There are risers which clip on the rims, but you don't want one of the risers which needs wooden hoops for attachment. If you are using a 16x16 tom the other thing worth mentioning is that by the time you add wooden hoops to a 16" deep tom you are creating quite a long drum. You don't actually save anything on stage footprint compared to say an 14x18 bass.

If I were going to do a conversion on another Floor Tom I'd go for the Pearl JG-16, although you do need to be careful because there are two options. One uses an Optimount (clips to the hoop) and the other uses an existing BT3 bracket. If you don't have a tom with a BT3 on it, then the Optimount adds to the cost but does mean no drilling. The only reason I say I'd go Pearl is I do happen to have a tom with the BT3 on it already.

I've also used a DW9909 cradle as a riser (because I've got various African drums which I need the flexibility for) but it is heavy and complex and overkill for most applications.

I've also used a Danmar riser which is pretty good. Much lighter than the DW9909.

Here is a nice comparison link:

http://compactdrums.com/bass-drum-riser-comparison/

Disclaimer: I'm not keeping up to date with all the product changes these days.

Thanks, zenstat! This is SO helpful.

My tom legs are 10.5mm and hoops are 2.5(?)mm. So I'll be sure to account for that.

Just the advice I needed in terms of heads, and hoops. Thanks!

I have looked at that Dunnett / Gibraltar kit, which is really cool, and the Pearl JG16 kit as well, and for price and functionality, I'm leaning toward the JG16 w/ the optimount for around $80-90 new (the pedal riser/mount on the Gibraltar kit seems to be a weak point, from what I've read). Seems like I could leave the optimount in place regardless of whether I'm using the 16" as a tom or a kick, and it would be a quick and easy swap as needed.

I'm not sure if that extra tom rail mount to sit on top of the kick is worth the $50 or so extra, although I've found it for sale separately, so I guess I could always add it after the fact if I went with the Pearl kit but then decided I wanted to put the tom on top of the kick - but seems like it would be both cheaper and perhaps more stable and space-efficient to either put the rack tom on a snare stand, OR hanging off a cymbal stand next to the kick.

I came across that run-down of different conversion kit options when I was doing my research - VERY helpful.

Thanks to all! Suggestion box is still open, but I feel like I'm narrowing in on my options. I'd like to be able to do this for around $100 or less. Would be nice to find some of this hardware used and save some dough, but seems like specialist items like this don't come up used very often.