Maybe a 16" deep but anything beyond that starts to look out of place with the other drums. Now if you have the old power toms then maybe a long BD would look okay, not my style but if you play in a "Hair Band" cover band maybe so. A 20" deep BD with smaller hanging "floor toms" and a tiny mounted tom just looks stupid. Now remember I'm over 50 so that is my perspective. I have an 18" BD that is only 12" deep and it sounds great. Put a microphone on it and it sounds really big if you EQ it correctly and it fits on the stage. That's my two cents.:2Cents:

The longer the bass drum 16++ the deeper the resonance in hertz or "Canon" effect. I like both sizes. Here's a pic of my 18" X18", 6 ply Maple Camco floor tom (the one on the bottom) converted to a bass with a boomy but focused tone that can compete with a 20"X14" bass in tone depth. The 16" floor tom completes the "Boom" for this kit.Cheers!-kellyj

I love the look of longer kicks personally. Especially in a 1 up 2 down configuration, something cool about having a big freaking bass drum right in the middle of it. One of these days I'm gonna build an acrylic set and it will have a 20X20 bass drum. As far as sound goes, I think you lose a little punch but you gain more bottom end. Take an old 20X18 tom, strap some wood hoops and clamp on spurs on that bad boy and it makes a mean bass drum!

I too have been experimenting lately questing after a bass drum sound that I can truly fall in love with. I like to set my drums up low to the ground and find that a twenty inch drum and less deep mounted toms gets that job done. The other thing that I have played around with is switching the batter and resonant sides of the drum, especially if the bass drum tom mount is not positioned in the middle of the drum. This allows for your leg and foot to be much further forward and really gets the bass drum out in front of you regardless of it's depth. Spurs can pose a challenge with this and may need to be swapped side to side if the are not matched, but right or left side. Really, experiment away!!!! I settled on a 22" drum with tweaked heads and a customized "breather hole" on the resonant side. I did a live stage show outdoors this last Sunday and I was thrilled with the sound out front. With NO pillow inside either. Was really noticeably improved. I will take some photos and explain my discoveries in a different thread, I'm sure some of you would like to give it a go and save a bundle of money on drum heads to boot.Glen

I love, love, LOVE the look of the current long kick drums, however, after playing my Premier kit, I like shorter ones better. They are quicker, louder with less effort and are much more articulate than the 20" long cannons currently in fashion. Could be the wood of my soon-to-be-jettisoned OCDP kit (basswood), but I think there's a more scientific explanation, namely that it takes much less time for sound to resonate to the reso head when the tube is 14" long.Please discuss. I will be back later to respond.

What O.C.D.P. drum set do you have? Mikey

I like the sound of all the bass drums i have played over the years..Back in the 80's i had and still have bass drums that i made that are 24x28,24x26,24x24.24x22,24x20 these size's sound good on stage to me most of the toms were like 12x12 ete with these set's...But in the studio i have always used a 14x20 tom's 8x12,ete...In other words smaller drums in the studio than live playing....Mikey

... the kick should match the kit. If it's a vintage kit, the kick should be shallow. If it's a modern kick, it should have a bit of depth. That's my take. boom boom bada boom