I have a 13" Sonorlite tom with a buzz. My 1st thought was the tom bracket. But with that removed, the sound persists. Also, the tension rod lock dealies seem fairly tight.

My current theory is it's a spring inside a lug. I took the drum apart and one lug didn't have foam, so I put some in. The rest have foam and not decayed, nasty foam. But I'm thinking maybe it's not tight enough. With the tom bracket off, and half the lugs and a head on, there's still a little buzz, but not as bad as before. And to get it to buzz, I have to hit a rim shot. There are no badges, so that's out. When the shell was bare, I hit it and no buzz. I'm thinking maybe I should re-stuff the lugs with more foam so it's packed tighter. Any suggestions?

I had the same problem , like a week ago....13" lite on a double tom holder[z5513b] , My problem was a missing split washer , on the holder.bought it on ebay.... replaced the split washer- easy fix ! when it was buzzing it sounded like it was coming of the drum.

I think it's probably the drum since I get a buzz when I hold it and hit it. But, just in case, can you explain further? I'm not sure which split washer, or what part of the mount.

I've had a couple lug bolts come loose on a couple toms, so the washers would vibrate/buzz against the interior of the shell. Now I try to add lock-washers to the lug-mounting equation.

...but I'm sure you checked those.
Good luck!

Yup what was wrong with mine is not the same as yours.....My buzz was where the two handles that tighten the toms are at thanks Trashman ! I could not remember lock washer in my head to save my seat....

I stuffed a little extra foam in each lug and even a little in the Tom bracket by the spring and so far so good!

Thats great ! I looked at a few of mine....nasty decayed old foam , Now, You got me on a new project...lol !

I get this on a couple of my lite toms, basically when they are tuned low, if a lug is detuned a bit too much it rattles. Try tweaking the tuning up just slightly on each lug until the rattle disappears. I know its a bit frustrating, but so is tuning lites in general. On the plus side, once they are dialed in you rarely need to touch them.

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Had the same on my 13x11 Sonorlite - I thought it was maybe a failed head but, haven't used the drum in a while, so will check with all the info here. Thanks

It's back to rattling again! Could it be the tom mount?