Wow, I don't quite understand why you're so against a tom on a snare stand, it seems a bit odd. It's just a drum, if you can put a snare on one, why not a tom? In fact, I venture to say in many cases it works better. Some of those old tom mounts were crap and many think you shouldn't have anything hanging off a kick drum.

In my sixty plus years of owning giggable drum sets, I have never owned a drum set with a crappy tom mount--and I have owned many drum sets. I am also not one of those drummers who think nothing should be attached to the bass drum. I embraced the Rogers Swivomatic hardware since it first came out. There are definitely different strokes for different folks.

I think it looks fantastic the way you have it mounted. It is unmistakably "Ludwig" and i honestly doubt anyone is going to notice the badge (or the lack thereof). Play on!

I've used many different mounting systems over the years on my kits. It's all about the individual drums. I have a 12x8 Ludwig 3-ply tom that sounds good with the mount. I have another 12x8 that doesn't sound good with the mount, and I have to either RIMS mount it or put it on a snare stand. I have a couple of 13x9s as well, one of which ONLY sounds good on a snare stand, and one that ONLY sounds good with a RIMS mount. As far as looks, that's secondary to me. If I were playing this kit, and cared enough about it, I would try a RIMS mount to get the badge facing the audience.

Well....just cuz I'm bored and people are offering opinions...MY opinion is that each vintage drum brand had their own take on mounting systems....and some worked better than others. But, for me, it's like anything else that I collect...It has to be "as designed" -meaning that if a certain brand had an inferior mounting system, then...oh well...accept it and deal with it....kinda like the old VW Bug's exhaust system! It's just the way it is because that's the way the designers designed it.

In another category of drum use: If I need a kit for practicality sake -or for use in the studio where sound is all that matters, then anything goes and it's into a completely different frame of mind outside of collectible accuracy. Mis-matched, Jury-rigged, etc. doesn't matter.

Guys, please forgive me in advance, if it sounds like I'm being a jerk. Because I'm not trying to be...

However, I fail to understand why we are concerned about showing the Ludwig tom badges to our audience. Guys, the dancers and music fans won't notice, and they certainly don't care! Not even fellow "Ludwig buff" drummers care.

I play a "Hollywood" kit "backwards" (left-handed set up). So my tom badges have always faced toward me, not the audience. No one, not even fellow drummers, have ever noticed. As long as you provide a good beat to dance to, and your band is fun, the audience is happy.

With all the amps, monitors, mike stands, cords, etc., and guitarists standing in front of you, I doubt that anyone has even noticed the Ludwig logo on my bass drum.

Guys, no one cares....but like Ricky Nelson reminded us so long ago..."you gotta please yourself."

So please yourself, brutha's....MB

O-Lugs and I are in synch. One of my mantras that I've posted many times on drum forums is that sometimes, the drummer needs to be willing to adapt to the equipment. I also am of the opinion that if I don't like the way a drum set is equipped vis a vis mounting doo-dads, that drum set is not for me. Since I have not done a lot of recording, when I did record, it was a "live in studio" recording for the instruments just as we had them on performance stages with the vocals added later from a vocal booth. Unlike so many drummers in the various forums who hate rail consolettes, I can adjust one in less than five minutes to work beautifully---I adapt to it. it's not rocket science.

I had a WFL kit with a 24" kick, even when the rail mount did work, it was either too high or too far off to the left. I had no choice but to use a snare stand.

Yeah I can see where a big bass drum with a conventional rail mount might cause problems for placement.

One thing you might try in a situation like that is to get an appropriate size "memory lock" and turn the L-arm DOWN instead of up. The memory lock will just add insurance that the tom won't slide off the L-arm. That way, you can get the tom lower....I think. That's what i would try. Then you don't have to haul around an extra snare stand.

JR,

I have the same set as you and noticed the same badge issue. I used to be against using a tom on a stand, thinking that it moved it too far away, and that I should use the mount cuz that was the way the dang thing was sold. But then I tried a tom on a stand using those little booty-bumper pads: what a huge difference. The drum sang.

But then, like you, I try to minimize equipment I have to lug around. It really comes down to trade-offs. And frankly, those priorities change. If my back hurts, I’ll take the absolute minimum to a gig. If I am feeling froggy, I’ll grab more stuff. Gig upstairs? Less. Major gig? More. Gonna take video? Maybe I’ll use my 12 with the badge showing. Recording? Use it on a stand with the bumpers.

Josh