Measuring Drum Heads Sizes

by Casey Merriman
(Marydel, MD)

Dear Question Answerer,
I have recently bought a new drum set and my drummer friend said that i should replace the heads. I have 10/10.5/16.5 diameter toms and those are the heads that I want to replace. Just curious, can i put an 11 inch head on the 10.5 inch tom and a 16 or 17 on the 16.5 inch tom? Because I'm not having any luck with finding half-inch tom heads. Thanks! -Casey


ANSWER

Hi, Casey--

I would be curious to know what brand of drum kit you purchased. I did some research and can find no evidence of this type of size being offered by any of the major drum companies.

Are you sure that you measured them correctly? Take the head off. Once the head is off of the drum, then measure just the shell from the outside edge directly across the center of the shell.

If you do indeed have these odd size toms, I would suggest contacting the manufacturer to find out where to purchase heads for them.

In answer to your main question--No, you can't use any head size other than the exact size of the toms.

Lynne