I think that Pearl rim mount (if it`s the same one your refering to) dampens a certain amount of the sound. I had to play one recently at a festival using the stage company's drums. I could tell that those mounts were messing with my tuning and the resonance of the toms. During a soundcheck I fiddled with them and could get more resonance when I moved the tom as I struck it- lifting the weight off of the rim mount. I didn`t like it.

I think either the standard Ludwig mount or a simple snare stand are your best options. IMO

I think the RIMS mount is your best option, if you're looking for the most resonance. I don't know if the Pearl mount does what you say it does, as I have no experience with it.

Using a snare stand or the tom mount on the shell will reduce the resonance of the drum. If you can tell the difference between when you play the drum on a snare stand/rail mount on the kick drum, and when you pick it up by the top rim with your fingers and play it like that, then the RIMS-style mounting system is for you.

you know- it wasn`t so much the resonance that it changed as it changed the tuning a little sour- I just couldn`t get the drum to sound right until I took it off the mount- I had to put it back on that day but it certainly led me to believe I wouldn`t use rims mounts myself. It could have been a fluke or just my ears?

Could also be that the RIMS mount was bent, meaning it was putting tension on the tension rods. I played on a suspended tom that just didn't sound good, and it turned out that this was the problem--the mount was pulling outwards on the tension rods. The tom should be freely-moving while attached to the mount. When you first buy a mount, you need to bend it a little so that it takes the shape of the drum and lines up the holes perfectly to the tension rods (I had a drum store employee show me this...he was absolutely right).

Also, do you tune by feel? If so, a RIMS mount would diminish your ability to do that, and maybe you just tuned it sourly as a result...??? If you tune your toms in "jazz/bop range", RIMS don't do much to increase the sustain, but then again, neither do the heads at that point...

I hear you and agree with your logic on this.

The RIMS mount doesn't work on center lug...Club Date style drums. I was wondering if anyone has tried the new Pearl opti-mount, not the old clip on the rim style holder. I may have to use the snare stand with this kit.

thanks

On the contrary, the RIMS mount works on any drum with the appropriate number of lug casings where there is about a half-inch of tension rod located beneath the top rim. It basically suspends the tom by the top rim, but by securing itself to the tension rods. You should have no problem with mounting a club date-style tom using a RIMS mount. That is, unless your 12" tom has 5 lugs instead of six, but I haven't seen a Slingerland tom like that...

I used the Pearl ISS mounts that I think you're talking about for awhile, but you're right, they do alter the tuning, especially on thinner hoops, as they basically put tension on where it attaches, does still allow for resonation.

The optimounts are supposed to work much better.

I see no reason why the RIMS style would not work.

I remember the original gauger rims mounts were sent out so that the mount slightly pushed the tension rods outwards...never understood this, but I seem to remember they even mentioned something about it in the instructions.