8.

Why? Because 6 is too few and 10 is too many.

Plus 1 on this .....

I say 7 or 9... :p

Why not? I mean, heck, there's a fairly well-known drum company that offered 12" toms with 5 lugs, or something ridiculous and pointless like that...

Whatever you do think about what rims you will put on it in advance! Nothing like having a shell and then trying to get rims for it and not being able to find any.

Make the drum according to the purchasers request. Charge him for the extra hardware and labor. He is paying for it, after all.

But let the purchaser know he's consigned to using either a snare stand for it or a shell-mounted receiver (tom mount). I was hugely disappointed to discover there is no such thing as a 14" ten-lug RIMS mount.

Not true, I have 2, both in use. They were offered in the original RIMS mounts by Gauger. Sold a third a couple of years ago. Just gotta look for them.

I had a machine shop copy my 13-8 lug and 15-10 lug RIMS. Had them chromed and put the mounting plates on them. Can't tell the difference from an original Gauger RIMS. You can buy the rubber grommets and mounting plates. Have a machine shop make one for you.

In fact, I am going to have a RIMS cradle made for my 15" 10 lug and 14" 10 lug toms.

Big hint: RIMS bands are made a circle 2" bigger than the shell diameter.

Good luck and show pics....

I have never seen a 14" tom with 10 lugs, only snares. I have seen 6 lugs on a 14" tom, mostly on cheap import sets from decades ago.

Because of the higher tension desired by many folks on their snare drums, a 10-lug configuration has a practical purpose. On a 14" tom, it's total overkill and the extra weight on the shell cannot be good for resonance...

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