DW9500 Hi-Hat Stand

NC68

Senior Member
I have a DW 9500D hi-hat stand. Other than being really heavy and probably overkill I am not feeling the stand so much. The problem seems that no matter what I do in terms of spring adjustment the up/down action of the top hi-hat cymbal seems pretty mushy. When I let up on the pedal the top cymbal floats up and bounces once or twice and the overall responsiveness is not very crisp. I'm about to put it on Craiglist but was wondering if anyone else had this type of stand and they experienced the same thing. I've fiddled with the spring tension knob but it doesn't seem to affect the action all that much.
 
I had that stand too and ultimately didn't like it. I think the reason it feels that way is that goofy gear and chain linkage they designed for it. It's great in concept and enables things like an 'outrigger' hi-hat (with the double-pedal linkage system), but I think in their quest for 'smoothness' they got 'mushy' just about right. The direct linkage of the 5500 hi-hat has a much better feel.

Maybe instead of selling yours, take it to a shop and see if they can 'demodify' it and replace the gear linkage with a direct link? I would think all that would take is getting the 5500 parts from DW, yes?
 
I love DW products but I'm not very enthused by their 9000 series of pedals or hi hat stands. I've found that their 5000 series are more responsive, a bit lighter and more playable then their 9000.

Dennis
 
I have a DW 9500D hi-hat stand. Other than being really heavy and probably overkill I am not feeling the stand so much. The problem seems that no matter what I do in terms of spring adjustment the up/down action of the top hi-hat cymbal seems pretty mushy. When I let up on the pedal the top cymbal floats up and bounces once or twice and the overall responsiveness is not very crisp. I'm about to put it on Craiglist but was wondering if anyone else had this type of stand and they experienced the same thing. I've fiddled with the spring tension knob but it doesn't seem to affect the action all that much.


My least favorite HH stand, a real dog.

Heavy, action is not pleasing and the chrome plating doesn't age well... and if you're not careful this stand can easily hurt you.
 
I appreciate the replies and suggestions. Maybe the 5000 series is the way to go and Bo Eder I'll look into possibly swapping out the mechanism if it's not too involved.

If I could ask one more question; if you had a blank slate what hi-hat stand would you purchase today? So far it appears the 5000 is the winner based on replies. I'll definitely check out any suggested stands at my local shop before hand. I bought the 9500 before trying it out based on DW reputation which I will admit was a mistake. Lesson learned.
 
I've been really happy with my Tama RoadPro hi-hat stand. Simple, direct, and not as heavy as the DW5500. Very smooth. I had the DW5500, and that was good, but even that was a bit on the heavy side. At one point I had the Tama Stagemaster stand, single-braced too! That thing took abuse for a good four years before being relagated to a practice hi-hat stand. If you want to lose the weight, I hear the DW3500 is a nice hat too.
 
Thanks again Bo Eder. Looking at my 9500 right now it looks a bit dicey trying to modify it to a direct linkage. I would hate to modify it and find it still sucks. I think a new stand is probably the safest bet.
 
try tama iron cobra lever glide, a very nice hh-stand. my favourite.
 
+1 on the 3500 HH stand...had mine for about a year.

I'm a fan of the 3000 series stuff...it's essentially the 5000 series circa 1995 - which I preferred. New 5000 and 9000 series is too much engineering on what was already wokrin real well.
 
Besides the DW 5000 series, the Tama model HH905 Lever Glide is an exceptional stand along with their HH75 Roadpro. I also love Yamaha products. I use their HS840 stand and it works great. One other stand that I have and is worth mentioning is the Pearl 900 stand. All except for the DW and Tama Lever Glide models, the others are about in the same price range.

Dennis
 
i have both a 5000 and 9000 series hi-hat stands, whil they oth are fantastic i find he 9000 to be efortless, i love it
 
+1 on the Tama Roadpro. Extremely smooth and responsive. It just feels nice to use, not to mention completely silent - so there's no sound of the chain clanking when you play 8th notes continuously (I had a stand that made a loud clanking that I could hear over my hats, so I returned them). Honestly, best hi hat stand imo.
 
Thought I'd post an update. Went down to the local music shop and tried out the DW5000, Tama Road Pro, HH905 and the Iron Cobra version of the HH905, (can't remember the exact model number). The sales guy was totally cool and let me try them all - he even unboxed two of the stands and assembled them so I could try them. The winner was the HH905. Crisp, responsive action, easily adjustable, foot board folds up easily for transport and a few other features that made the Tama HH905 the clear winner.

For what it's worth, here is why I did not choose the other contenders:

  • Iron Cobra HH905 - About $20 dollars more than the HH905. Longer foot board and different finish than the standard HH905 but for me the foot board was almost too big. This would be my second choice.
  • Tama Road Pro - very basic stand and a great value but the HH905 was slightly more responsive. Great stand though.
  • DW5000 - Much crisper action than the DW9500D most likely due to the direct linkage but it was just not as crisp as the Tama stands. The sales guy also pointed out that on the DW the top cymbal bounces a bit when you let off on the foot board. Another major drawback IMO is that it's somewhat of a hassle to fold up the foot board on the DW stand. DW missed the boat in that regards.

So the HH905 was the best bet. Thanks to everyone for their feedback.
 
Cool summary.

I was just wondering why adjusting the tension on the DW9000 did not solve the problem.

I have the DW9000 and my top hat goes straight up without wobbling. Did you try maxing out the tension?
 
I did experiment with different tensions but at higher spring tensions the responsiveness seemed sluggish when pressing down on the foot board. At lower tensions the top cymbal had to much re-bound or bounce when the foot board was released. I just could not get the right feel out of it no matter what I did.
 
I did experiment with different tensions but at higher spring tensions the responsiveness seemed sluggish when pressing down on the foot board. At lower tensions the top cymbal had to much re-bound or bounce when the foot board was released. I just could not get the right feel out of it no matter what I did.

OK - I hear ya! Glad you found a keeper!
 
I've been really happy with my Tama RoadPro hi-hat stand. Simple, direct, and not as heavy as the DW5500. Very smooth. I had the DW5500, and that was good, but even that was a bit on the heavy side. At one point I had the Tama Stagemaster stand, single-braced too! That thing took abuse for a good four years before being relagated to a practice hi-hat stand. If you want to lose the weight, I hear the DW3500 is a nice hat too.

I've used both. The single braced Stagemaster is also my current practice stand. It's taken a lot of abuse over the last 5 or 6 years.

I now use the Iron Cobra lever glide. It's fantastic. I've noticed the hats have more sizzle on the IC than the Road Pro or the Stagemaster.
 
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