Gibraltar GSVMS-KIT Vertical Mounting

I bought the Gibraltar stealth mounting system to go with a new 4 piece kit I had bought. I wanted it to tidy the look of the kit as well as shrink the overall footprint (I also bought the matching stealth mount with empty vertical tubes for use at the floor tom side) by removing all tripod legs and every cymbal stand (except the hi hat).

I have used the product a bit now. Not gigged it yet but it seems it will speed up setup and take down considerably!

The build quality is what you would expect from Gibraltar. Rock solid. It is extremely adjustable and can easily be set to any angle I (and most drummers) would want. Some people complain that there are no memory locks included. I can see why they would be helpful if you were constantly moving and transporting it but, for me, I don't mind that they are amiss.

My drums look so much better without all the stands and there is no more fiddling, trying to slot tripod legs through each other so you can reach them all.

The single tom holder is strong and doesn't move under pressure and there's a clamp on the rear of it to attach a cymbal arm if desired (a good extra).

The snare basket is extremely nice to use. The adjustment screw under the basket is great to use and easy to find and move without peering under the drum. I was slightly worried that with only one leg, the snare stand could be off balance if not set up exactly right. I shouldn't have worried. As soon as all the joins are tightened, there is no movement at all! So much space under snare!

The horizontal joining bar works well and the bend in it clears my double pedal. It's close, but my pedal's bar is higher than most (Trick Drums Dominator) so it shouldn't be any issue for 'regular' pedals and it can also be flipped over to go under the pedal bar is required.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with this product, as well as its companion piece. I had promised myself some Gibraltar kit for years but could never quite justify (or afford) a full rack. These Stealth racks are exactly what I hoped they would be. All the strength, adjust-ability and clutter free footprint of a rack without the price!

If you are looking for something to tidy up your floor space but not take up more room I would definitely suggest these Stealth racks. They are extremely solid and can be added to easily as and when you require.

There's not really anything else on the market that I've seen that bridges the gap between stands and rack but even if there was, at this price and for a trusted name like Gibraltar, I would still opt for these every time.

I bought this Stealth vertical mount (together with the Stealth side mount) to replace a snare stand and cymbal stand and bass drum mounted tom mount. The side stand replaced two other stands. I wanted a simpler, lighter system that is easier to set up and take down for gigs.

The Stealth system came well packaged with all necessary parts to accommodate different tube sizes. It was fairly easy to assemble (although the snare basket took a while to fathom out how to open it)

It did take some time to understand the inter-relationship between the different bolts and spacing between floor clamps and memory locks so as to achieve proper verticals and horizontals with the upright posts and cross piece tube. I suggest you take some time here to understand this and the Stealth system becomes quick and easy to assemble (although I'd recommend that after you have found the ideal for your drum set-up, you find a way to mark the position of the clamps, posts and cross tubes to enable a speedy set up next time).

The same applies to the Steal side mount system for which I also bought a separate clamp for the cross tube to enable me to mount an auxiliary fixed hi-hat. Mark the positions or you'll spend time fiddling around, which didn't happen so much with the traditional tripod mounts for cymbal stands.

The stealth system is very stable when properly set up although I find the Gibraltar tom mount's clamping system for a cymbal boom satisfactory but lacking a solid base to mount the tube onto. The clamp grips but does not support. I have swapped mine for a Sonor combined tom / cymbal mount which is much more sturdy and easier to use.

It's a bit early to know for certain whether the change to the Stealth system is superior to my previous stands. I know the footprint is certainly much less and it does feel sturdy but I still have the same number of clamps and auxiliary tubes / booms; only they are now all mounted on the rack system instead of tripods. My hardware bag still feels very heavy so I doubt that I have saved much weight.

Overall, early days yet; it looks good and seems effective with my reservations as noted above. I'll know for sure after a few months more rehearsing and gigging.