RIMS® Reviews

LUDWIG:

​"First, a lot of congrats for your products! Did buy your RIMS® Alloy models to retrofit my Ludwigs around 2003 or 2004 and the difference was STUNNING (I was not eager to believe this before). Thanks very much and best from France."

-Yannick Sastre
​  Teacher and French Ludwig Specialist

"I am very pleased with my new RIMS®. They look and sound fantastic. I can't believe how light they are and still feel solid when played. They have outperformed all other systems I have tried. My Luddys never sounded this pure and good before.  Just for jollies I tried 4 grommets instead of 3 on the 10" and 12" toms. Just as you stated, it reduced the resonance a small amount. I took the extra ones back off and could not believe the difference.  You guys have done your homework and have a superior product.
Thanks so much!"

-Steve Kesler

"I own a Ludwig Maple Classic drum set that is 20-25 years old. The tom mounts were connected to the drum shells when I bought them and they wouldn't sustain nor could I tune them properly. I bought RIMS back then and I could tune the drums and they would sustain. I was extremely happy. I recently bought the Ludwig Atlas Tom mounts and gave them a try. When installed, the drums sustained like they did with the RIMS; however, I couldn't tune the drums. I took off the atlas mounts and re-installed the RIMS. I had each drum tuned within two minutes each. I still believe that your RIMS mounts are the most innovate product for drums in the past three decades!"

​-Daniel Woitaszek

YAMAHA:

"I've been playing for 35 years now, having had a '64 Ludwig kit all these years. Recently I picked up a Yamaha Stage Custom Birch kit in smaller sizes. At the store the drums were stacked rather than set up, and I picked up each of the drums by the rim (unknown to me at the time, your test) and struck them as I suspended them in my hand. I was very pleased with the sound.

When I got it home I changed the heads and set up the kit. I was very happy with the sound I was able to get from the snare, the kick, and the floor. The 10” tom was acceptable. The 12”, however, had excessively fast decay and strange overtones that I did not hear in the store.

Frustrated, I thought that a suspension mount might help and tried to order a pair made by Gibraltar for the rack toms. I discovered that Gibraltar has discontinued the mounts for six lug drums in those sizes. A search on line turned up a no-name version and I was about to place an order when I came across your site. Very educational. I had not considered that a no-name brand may fail to function, but I would never have imagined that it may actually damage the drums.

I affixed it to the 12” tom per the instructions, and fine-tuned the flanges until they sat on the lugs with no stresses. The matte platinum finish perfectly complements the bead-blasted portions of the Yamaha hardware. 

Simply put, the 12” drum now sounds astonishing. It not only has more sustain, but is deeper and fuller, and the strange overtones are gone. In fact, the 10” tom which had sounded quite open compared to the 12” now sounds choked by comparison to the 12” with the R.I.M.S. mount.

Thanks for an really outstanding product and quick service."

​-Chip Hammond

"I have fitted the RIMS® to 3 of my 5 Yamaha 9000 toms and I couldn't be more happy with the result. The toms now sing like never before. By installing the RIMS® on the 'bottom' of the drums I have maintained maximum resonance with the added advantage that the drums can be positioned as close together as they were before the RIMS® were installed."

​-Amjid Hasan, Kenilworth, UK

"My old Yamaha RC (1983 and counting!) was languishing in cases unused and slightly forgotten. The problem was that compared to my new kit, the toms on the Yamaha just weren't cutting it, sounding rather choked and lifeless; still great drums but I guess a testament to the fact that even on the best kits, hardware manufacture genuinely has come a long way. I decided to do something about it and started asking questions and doing a bit of research regarding retro-fitting suspension mounts to pre-yess Yamaha toms. There were a lot of conflicting opinions; leave them as they are, you'll have to drill, don't drill, etc. However, I decided that if I didn't improve them they were going to stay unloved in their corner possibly not to be played again......I have one thing to say to those prevaricating like me about whether to mount old top-quality drums on RIMS.......JUST GET ON WITH IT!  With my new mounts in place every drum sings like never before, my 10" and 12" in particular have opened up to the point that it's hard to suppress a smile when I hit them now. The 14" and 16" hanging toms were always good but now they are immense; deeper, fuller and more focussed. Also, I have had no problems whatsoever with a big 16" tom on a RIMS mount, some drummers seem to be concerned about this, don't be; place the mount and lugs correctly and it's perfectly clear that the weight distribution is very even and not stressing the drum. Of course if you are dealing with a pre-yess Yamaha like me then you do have to get the YESS tom holders in order to push the weight bearing point nice and high up the tom arm without having the arm protrude inside the shell, it's essential and looks far neater anyway. I cannot overstate how much of a difference fitting RIMS has made to these drums, basically my old kit now has a whole new lease of life, I have fallen in love with my Yammies again! I would like a few British companies to take customer service lessons from Gauger; every email (however inane) was answered with patience and thoroughly within a few hours by someone with the surname Gauger, proper customer care."

-Dyfrig Morris, CARDIFF, UK

"I received your RIMS® and put them on my Yamaha Maple Nouveau Custom Absolute drums and I am a lot happier player now! They definitely make the drums resonate and sound better. I was so frustrated with getting the drums tuned and the "YESS" tom tom system just didn't work. Plain and simple. I'd tune the drums off the holders and they'd sound good. As soon as I placed them on the tom mounts they'd choke. I tried different heads etc...nothing seemed to work."

-Chip Trombley

PEARL:

It saddens me to see companies tooling and marketing their own style mounts only to suck the tone right out of the shell. Thank you for developing a product that does what it says it does. Even holding the drum by hand doesn't capture the resonance I get from having it supported at 180 degrees on the RIMS. The mounts I replaced were those top and bottom Optimount style.  Tone thieves. Chokers of the bottom head, especially on smaller diameter drums. Your product has made my kit exponentially better and I thank you. I hope more drummers can see past the marketing fog being thrust down the throat of non suspecting consumers... major manufacturers with their own "cost effective" designs. Lighter=better. I no longer hear the irritating twang of chrome agitated off of the shell's vibrations. Just sweet, deep tone. I am spreading the word. What made DW and other boutique builders at the time so in demand was their sound. Trending away from that is something I will never subscribe to. Thank Gauger for staying the course."

-Toby Vattilano

"I just wanted to send a quick email of thanks regarding your product. I currently play a Pearl Session Custom (SRX) which utilizes the 6 ply maple shell. I have tried for years to configure the Optimount system on this kit to no avail. Literally dozens of hours tweaking that produced minute improvements. I finally ordered a set of RIMS for my 7 piece kit, and after installing, configuring and re-tuning, the RIMS system DRASTICALLY improved the overall sound of my kit.

My kit sounds like a totally different kit and the toms sing out like never before. Dramatically improved sustain, resonance and overall body and clarity of sound. I am now FINALLY hearing 100% of the shell. Also, after tuning, the toms are producing much more low end and midrange, and are sounding 'full spectrum' and fully open for the first time. Virtually ZERO over ring as well. In short, my kit now sounds like a high end maple kit should.

​I would HIGHLY recommend getting the RIMS® system to anyone playing one of Pearl's 6 ply maple or birch shells."

​-Brian Burns

GRETSCH:

"If I may I would love to give a review of your system. I am using a Gretsch Catalina maple kit. The Gretsch mount system was ok but there always lacked that power and resonance you expect from newer shells. The tone would just not lock in. I tried several different types of heads and all were the same. I was about to give up and spend big bucks on a kit when I decided to do some research. This landed me on the Gauger page. A lot of other drum companies have their system, but I had a set of Tamas and the STAR system is close to yours, but same problem as all other mount systems. you just don't get that power you know a kit is capable of. So I decided I would give R.I.M.S® a try. Your research sold me. You backed your product with solid facts and explained why I was getting tired of the same old sound. I ordered the mounts for the 10 and 12 inch but to my mistake, I ordered the wrong mount plates. I was able to use the old Gretsch plates. The difference in tone was literally a 180 deg difference. The power, tone, and resonance were amazing. I was 100% pleased with the way it all turned out. I was in for a big surprise. Your excellent customer service sent me the correct plates. Now let me clarify something; The Gretsch plates are steel and press formed. They are heavier. I remember what you said about how steel affected the sound. Well I got your plates in Aluminum alloy. I put it all together and tuned up. I was floored literally FLOORED!!! The tone and resonance was out of this world. My Catalina Maple sounds like an $8K kit. Proof that what you were saying about your product was true. The all aluminum hardware is the best out there for tone. Pearl, Gretsch, Tama, Mapex etc>>> NO ONE and I truly mean no one makes a better mount than you. I am a 120% satisfied customer. I need to order the 8 inch Gretsch mount soon. Not sure yet on the 14 and 16 floor toms. But I will indeed be using Gauger products from now on and will tell and show all my Drummer friends what Gauger did for me. TYVM!!!"

-James M Lovelace

​

"I have to say that the 12" Gretsch mounted tom never sounded better. It was the traditional Gretsch sound, but bigger and fuller. The RIMS mount also got rid of the vibrating shake that the drum had with the "cheap" Gretsch copy of your old mount.

​...Now that I've lived with the new RIMS® a bit longer, a few more observations have come up. I'm coming to the conclusion that the longer sustain on the drums I've mounted these on is not my imagination. The other thing I've noticed is that you really need to "even out" the tuning of the drum that has this new mount. The new RIMS® really seem to bring out the fullest possible sound, maybe the "truest" sound of each drum. It's pretty amazing that changing the mounting point system from four to three and going to the lighter alloy would do all this, but it looks like your research and engineering has paid off."


-Paul Yonemura

"Just received and installed my new R.I.M.S. on my Gretsch Catalina Club tom. What a difference! Awesome sound and looks great too. I saw your video on you tube and it was very helpful. You should encourage all of your customers to watch this video."

-Tom Shaughnessy

MAPEX:

"As promised, I wanted to let you know how your RIMS® worked out on my Mapex Saturn V 12" Tom. First, the half-plate fit the mount perfectly, which was great. Secondly, I cannot believe how much better it sounds now (and it was pretty good before)! I could offer a highly verbose, adjective laden testament (which I'd be glad to do if you'd like) for the whole world to read and it still wouldn't convey what a beautifully resonant, clean, pure tone I'm getting from my rack tom now...it's freaking amazing! Zero weird overtones, sustain for days...it honestly sounds like a musical instrument now, as opposed to being "just a drum"! I honestly didn't know a drum could produce such a beautifully clean tone. I'm a nice guy, but I am picky as hell and have wildly uncontrolled OCD when it comes to my drums and my sound, but I am beyond impressed with your product!"

​-Jeff Hart

​

"Absolutely extraordinary, Adam.  I'm actually getting MORE sustain out of this mount then I got when just picking up the drum between your thumb and finger, as we all do to test the tuning.  I would have been thrilled to get just that amount of sustain.  I'm actually going to have to do something to shorten the sustain that I'm getting off these.  I've got black Evans resonant on the bottoms, which at this point may be a bit much.  Something else I didn't expect was how it changed the "feel" of the drum with the heads/shell vibrating the way they were meant to vibrate.   And, I haven't even TRIED to experiment with them yet.  All I did was follow the recommended mounting instructions, and these worked EXACTLY as described.  I couldn't be happier."

​-John Laird

"I just wanted to let you know that I finally got the RIMS® on my Mapex Saturn toms. You were right about the toms opening up and singing.  They make it sound like it's a different kit now. I am so pleased with your product and can't thank you enough for all your time and efforts in making this work for me."

​-Joe Costa

"I received my RIMS® last week, followed your instructions and installed with no problem. A fellow drummer freind of mine suggested your product. He  installed them on his DW kit and raved about them. I installed them on my Mapex kit and all I can say is wow!! I play a number of bands N.Y. NJ. area I will suggest this product to any drummer. Totally pleased with the results. My rack toms sound amazing. Keep up the good work I help spread the good news. 

​-Tony Cerbo

"I just wanted to let you know how happy I am with your RIMS™ on my Mapex toms. The drums just opened right up. Of course, this was a foregone conclusion, I've been using your product since 1979. Rogers, Gretsch and now
Mapex. Success rate 100%."

-Terry O'Brien

"Just had to tell you how well the RIMS® mount is working on my 12" Mapex. Incredible! It's night and day from what I had before. Way beyond what I had even hoped for. Wow. Thanks again."
​
-Ben Gibson​

OTHER:

"​I had ordered the R.I.M.S. suspension system to use on a kit that I had put together. This is East Indian Rosewood, 10"x8", 12"x 8", 14" x 14", and a 20" x 18". This is a solid stave shell kit, with high quality hardware. What stands out the most aside from the wood is your RIMS product, I've had multiple compliments for your product for not only the clean look, but the way they bring the true tones out in this wood. The only thing I can say is these drums sound like thunder, and I believe it wouldn't be possible to create that sound without your product."
​
​-James Zumbrock, Crook Custom Drums

"I've been using RIMS on my 12" rack tom for the last few weeks. What a remarkable difference. It's amazing how much more sustain is gained by this newer design. Furthermore, the drum sustains better in the low frequencies, which adapts the kit better to the style of music I'm playing."

​-Jeremy Clement

"I have owned these drums since purchasing new in 1986. The toms have never sounded so good."
-Jeff Kindt

"I just wanted to let you know that I have all my RIMS mounts assembled and ready to go. I must say they are by far the classiest-looking drum mounts I've ever seen! I love the way the half-plate works with the DW bracket. Also, the way the matte aluminum finish works with the chrome: SWEET. Anyway, I just wanted to convey my absolute satisfaction in your product."
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-Art Davidson

"All I can say is "WOW!!!!". These new RIMS opened up my Bearing Edge drums so much that I couldn't believe it at first. They do exactly what they are intended to do---make great drums sound awesome."

​-Dan

"I recently played a show and using a custom maple bop kit. My 7x12 tom had no mount, so I placed it on an extra snare stand. The drum was tuned perfectly as I held it by the rim and struck the head. After placing it on the snare stand.........something drastically changed with the sound. The drum was sounding choked. There was barely any resonance coming from the drum. I would remove the drum from the stand and hold it by the rim again. As I struck the drum again, I soon realized I needed some type of tom mount to solve this choking problem. After careful research, I kept coming back to Gauger Percussion RIMS® as my first choice. Everything on the website made total sense. I ordered Gauger RIMS® for my 12" tom. The installation went smoothly and I couldn't wait to tune the drum and strike it. I mounted the drum with the Gauger RIMS® on a stand. Now get ready for Gauger's Best Kept Secret . . . When I struck the drum. I couldn't believe my ears. The drum actually had more resonance then when I held it by the rim and struck it. How could this be? It is simple. Gary Gauger has obviously spent countless hours perfecting this product. Thanks Gary for designing the best rim mount system out there. Lightweight, looks great, sounds amazing!"

​-John Kroner

"​I mounted a Dunnett R class utility clamp attached to the top hoop of one of my toms.  The tom was then mounted on the tom holder using the clamp.  I thought I would get good results with this because of the minimum contact of the clamp on my drum.  All this did was choke the tom.  At this point, I am wise enough to know that there are only two absolutes in life:  death and that your RIMS® mounts are the best drum suspension system on the market."

​-Daniel Woitaszek

I was an endorser of Gauger RIMS in the mid 80’s - working directly with Gary. Even though there a lot of knock-off imitators of RIMS® on the market today,  I will only put the original, superior, RIMS on my drums. Drumming is my profession. I work in the studio. Compromising on sound, regardless of price, is not an option. I’m so glad Gauger is still going and creating RIMS®.

-Billy Goodness