Cymbal Mounting: Rubber or felt?

Been looking at every way I can extend the life of my cymbals. I keep coming across info on rubber being better than felts. Specifically the Grombal.

Anyone have some experience with them? Supposed to let the cymbals ring out better and it keeps the bell from cracking so fast. A bit pricey though so I don't feel the urge to rush out and buy one.

Also found rubber to replace hi-hat clutch felts and the cymbal spring I see Ride cymbals on a lot. Are the products gimmicks, or do they really improve the life of your cymbals?

I was sent these cymbal holders with springs last year to try out and I can't remember who the manufacturer was. All I remember is that there were two different colored rings, one had a yellow and I believe the other had a red ring to be used with either lighter or heavier weight cymbals. I tried them for a couple of weeks and then I returned to the felts that I so adore, lol.

Correct mounting and playing technique goes a long way for cymbal longevity.

Dennis

Agreed that just taking proper care of your cymbals and not beating the hell out of them will keep you going for quite a bit of time.

That being said... if you're looking for a solution like that rubber-thing they're trying to charge $5 for then you're better off buying a back of replacement washer grommets for RIMS mounts. They function exactly the same way and are likely a lot cheaper than that gimmick.

Glad I ask about these things before making impulse buys. I have a good setup of Gibraltar stands with the plastic sleeve to avoid any cymbal on metal contact and I don't play very hard.

Just spent almost $600 on new cymbals so making them last is key for me. Seems I'm already off to a good start.

Cyannetica said:

Been looking at every way I can extend the life of my cymbals. I keep coming across info on rubber being better than felts. Specifically the Grombal.

Anyone have some experience with them? Supposed to let the cymbals ring out better and it keeps the bell from cracking so fast. A bit pricey though so I don't feel the urge to rush out and buy one.

Also found rubber to replace hi-hat clutch felts and the cymbal spring I see Ride cymbals on a lot. Are the products gimmicks, or do they really improve the life of your cymbals?

Click to expand...

I absolutely love these and I'll never go back to plastic sleeves and felts! They do allow the cymbals to vibrate a tiny bit more, since there is no top felt to dampen them. It's also really nice not to worry about wing nuts and felts and sleeves getting lost during setup/teardown. I just pull the cymbal out of the bag and slide it onto the stand. The rubber holds it on the stand with no wing nut and it vibrates freely. I use Gibraltar cymbal stands and they work just fine on them.

You can get a 3-pack of these for $10 from Sam Ash. Not sure why the other retailers only sell them individually for $5.