Overall Comments

I bought two of Tony Pass' Thinskirt rims, one for my bluegrass banjo (with JLS #12 tone ring), and the other a Thinskirt "Woodie" for my openback banjo. (The Woodie has the tone ring as an integral part of the rim, roughly similar to the original Deering Goodtime.) I cannot speak too highly of these rims. They made a remarkable improvement in tone and volume to both instruments.
When my openback instrument was set up with a Goldtone Whyte Laydye tone ring and 3/4" thick multi-ply rim (from a Gold Tone custom kit), it sounded kind of mediocre to my demanding ears. The rim & ring was replaced with Tony's rim. The volume increase was remarkable. A man in our house church heard the previous set-up, and with the new rim, he commented "Boy that thing is LOUD!" The tone quality increase is as remarkable as the volume is. This is - in my opinion - now the gold standard for open back banjo sound.
My bluegrass banjo was originally made from a Gold Tone OB250+ kit, which utilized a "professional" three-ply maple rim. As stated, after upgrading to the Thinskirt, I appreciate the superior quality of machining, tone, and volume that the Tony Pass gives me. Also of note is that, previously, my Fults BlueRidge Parallel tailpiece was kind of muddy sounding when my strings aged only a few weeks. With the Tony Pass rim, the Fults BlueRidge really comes into its own, and gives a quality, deep tone with good volume.
The rim apparently gives its bass tone enhancement out the back of the instrument, where the rim obviously is. I ended up removing the resonator off my bluegrass instrument to get all this glorious tone. If I perform publicly, I can reinstall it, to project the sound out.
Tony's Thinskirt rims are like comparing a Stradivarius violin to a commonly-available high quality violin. The Stradivarius is noted for power and tone, and very possibly utilized submerged wood, as Tony Pass does.
To obtain ideal tone, my set-up is:
Remo WeatherKing heads, tuned to 88 (Drumdial tuner) with the JLS #12 tone ring, and 89 on the Thinskirt Woodie. As a rule of thumb, JLS rings take a loose head, and Woodie rims take a tight head, for ideal sound.
Tailpieces: Openback: Fults 1934 Parallel; Bluegrass: Fults BlueRidge Parallel (custom order).
Strings make a huge difference in set-up; I use only Gibson Earl Scruggs strings. Currently I am using light gauge, although I will try out the medium gauge strings. Incidentally, my common practice with both banjo and guitar is to have my strings detuned one fret (the G string is tuned F sharp.) This practice gives me more sweetness and resonance to the sound of the instrument. Both banjos are loud, even though detuned in this way.
In closing, I recommend the Tony Pass Thinskirt very highly. For me, the difference was immediate. Tony says that many folks have a delayed effect ("bam effect") in which the boost in tone doesn't come until after playing for a period of time. For me, it was immediate.
I hope this helps in your selection of a rim. Tony Pass is the best.

Overall Rating

10