You might not think it at first, but this is indeed protects your cymbals. Let me explain! I've been using various cymbal protection methods almost religiously for years now. Aquarian spring mounts, Gavin Harrison's CymbalShox, Cympads, etc. With this, I think my method is complete! If you don't tighten your nut underneath the spring below the cymbal holder, your cymbals have a "floating" base, so when you hit it, your cymbals have space to go (downwards) when they swing, and the middle part won't have to "break" the force you put into it. Therefore less stress on the cymbals, which in turn extends the life of your cymbals. I'm using it in combination with the CymbalShox, so from now on, less worry, more fun.
Also, it is a Gibraltar product, so the rock-solid construction and the quality is more than obvious. The rod itself is a 12.7, so choose your cymbal arm accordingly! Only drawback is you need to fiddle a bit with the actual angles, because the spring will not be an absolutely evenly distributed force underneath the cymbal. So when the cymbal rotates on the mount, the cymbal-angle might change a bit. Took me maybe 5 minutes per cymbal at first and slight adjustments later on. But the time is well worth it.
To sum it up: Is it cheap? No. Worth it? Absolutely!!!
