I had a couple of the HiLite kits as well as many other Sonor from that time period.......You will notice.. the LESS the tom arm is pushed inside the bracket and drum.. the more the drum will resonate....... The more you push in the tom arm inside of the bracket and into the drum.. the less resonance you will get.. Try to keep them as far OUT of the drum as possible.. and clamp down tight.
Yeah you wanna let the drums sing. Learned that from Danny Carey. That man does not muffle his drums whatsoever. Billy cobham and Simon philips as well!
If this is Steve Smith's kit it is missing a tom, if you watch the videos from the Buddy Rich Memorial Concert in 1991 you will see that he has a tom on his left where some drummers might place a side snare. Still, I am very jealous of you having this drum set.
