Gretsch Floor tom to Bass drum head dilema

Dave13

Hello everyone. I'm new to the board and was hoping some of you might help me out. Long story short....I converted a 18x16 Gretsch Catalina Birch floor tom in to a bass drum. I even got some maple hoops and stained them a nice honey pine etc. Anyway, to my dismay the 18" bass drum head (Evans EMAD) I bought will not fit because the rim is a bit wider than the 18" tom head. The extra wideness will not allow the tension rods to meet the lugs. I noticed all bass drum heads seem to be made this way. Do you have any suggestions on 18" tom heads to use or any bass heads that do not have the wider rim. Any help is appreciated.

BTW, I'm looking for a tight punchy sound for the most part. I'd also like something versatile that I could play around with.

Thanks - Dave

bytor · Admin Joined: 12 Aug 2003 Posts: 5248 Location: Kansas

Just to clarify, are you saying the wood hoop diameter is too wide to properly fit over the metal rim of the EMAD head?

Dave13 · Posted: Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:05 pm Post subject:

No, the metal rim of the EMAD is a bit wider than the rim on the standard tom head. I think I'm going to have to put a couple of rubber washers beneath the lugs to raise them enough to meet the rods properly. I'd rather do that than have to use a different head. Any suggestions?