Recommend Some Nice Hi-Hats

Souljacker

Silver Member
Might be on the lookout for some new hi-hats soon, can anyone recommend some?

I'd like some lighter hats this time with a nice crisp clean open hi-hat sound. I'm basically looking for the opposite to the Sabian AAX Stage 14 inch I have now. It's too heavy and I really don't like the open sound. I think it's very sploshy. I'm sure some of you are familiar with it.

I'd be a fan of the Zildjian K sound but can't spend that much.
 
Might be on the lookout for some new hi-hats soon, can anyone recommend some?

I'd like some lighter hats this time with a nice crisp clean open hi-hat sound. I'm basically looking for the opposite to the Sabian AAX Stage 14 inch I have now. It's too heavy and I really don't like the open sound. I think it's very sploshy. I'm sure some of you are familiar with it.

I'd be a fan of the Zildjian K sound but can't spend that much.

I think Sabian also makes some HH hats that compete with Zildjian K's. Have you tried to find those? Or Soultone might be a good option, but I'll bet those are even hard to come by where you live. I take it the Meinl Byzance's would be out of reach as well?

Maybe you should save up more money and get exactly what you want, then you're only buying new hi-hats once?
 
For the "K light hats" sound without the price, try the Dream Bliss hi-hats. I had a pair but sold them a while back. Really nice hats that sounded like they cost twice what I paid for them.
 
I think Sabian also makes some HH hats that compete with Zildjian K's. Have you tried to find those? Or Soultone might be a good option, but I'll bet those are even hard to come by where you live. I take it the Meinl Byzance's would be out of reach as well?

Maybe you should save up more money and get exactly what you want, then you're only buying new hi-hats once?

Looking at the website from a store I visit sometimes, there is a few Sabian HHs, the medium 14inch is about the price of a Zildjian K, and the 13inch Bright hats are about 80 euro cheaper than the Medium. I would be able to get some extra cash for trading in my AAX hats, may be able to higher my budget.

Haven't seen Soultone in any stores, as far as I remember.

In my local store they have the 13inch Byzance fast hats, I think Thomas Lang designed those. They're half price apparently, very good deal if they are still there in stock. Have you played these? Thanks for the recommendations.

For the "K light hats" sound without the price, try the Dream Bliss hi-hats. I had a pair but sold them a while back. Really nice hats that sounded like they cost twice what I paid for them.

Thanks for the post. There are no Dream dealers in my country but a lot in the UK. I just checked one of them, and they ship over here. I wouldn't get a chance to play it, that'd be the only problem. I'll bear those in mind, been hearing good things about Dream.
 
If your store carries the re-designed Zildjian New Beats, give those a try. (Look for the big ' A ' ).
They're not super thin, but they have an excellent open sound, and I think they'd be great all purpose hats.

Edit: oops - just checked and they list them as medium top and heavy bottom.
Might not be what you're looking for, but I still think it'd be worth your time to try them.

.
 
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The meinl sand hats (not sure about the name) but the ones benny Greb uses were at the store the other day. Tried them and liked them very much.
 
In my local store they have the 13inch Byzance fast hats, I think Thomas Lang designed those. They're half price apparently, very good deal if they are still there in stock. Have you played these? Thanks for the recommendations.

Thanks for the post. There are no Dream dealers in my country but a lot in the UK. I just checked one of them, and they ship over here. I wouldn't get a chance to play it, that'd be the only problem. I'll bear those in mind, been hearing good things about Dream.

Those particular Byzance are kind of heavy and probably not what you're looking for. A pair of Traditional Medium or Thin hats would suit your requirements quite handily.

Dream is also a very good option. Not super consistent but boy do they nail it a lot.
 
If were going away from the traditional brands, I'd suggest looking to Stagg cymbals. The splashes and chinas ive gotten from them are real great, though have never tried their hats. Id recommend something from the SH line as that is built for rock and such but isn't too lunky. Or the classic series is more of a jazz line which could be what your looking for. Check out this dude, he does reviews of nearly every stagg cymbal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VAYIHKFGiY
 
Well if you like K's then a lot of brands have similar "hand-hammered" versions. I've heard some are and some aren't I guess it depends on the brand. Try to find samples of darker sounding hats from all the brands you can. Try mycymbal.com, or memphisdrumshop on youtube.

I second dream as they get great reviews, although I'm not very familiar with them. Don't like all of them, but there have been a few amazing crashes that were so tempting especially since they are so affordable. Near my house is a drum shop that carries dream cymbals.
 
Well if you like K's then a lot of brands have similar "hand-hammered" versions. I've heard some are and some aren't I guess it depends on the brand. Try to find samples of darker sounding hats from all the brands you can. Try mycymbal.com, or memphisdrumshop on youtube.

I second dream as they get great reviews, although I'm not very familiar with them. Don't like all of them, but there have been a few amazing crashes that were so tempting especially since they are so affordable. Near my house is a drum shop that carries dream cymbals.

Zildjian's are wholly machine-hammered. Most other brands' K equivalents are hand-hammered, though I'm pretty sure Sabian uses some machine hammering (and theirs are pressed into shape like Zs) and I don't know where Paiste Twenties are made.
 
In what price range?

I use some vintage Avedis Zildj New Beat 14's. They work well, however, I have heard some phenomenal newer stuff that will have to be budgeted. The search continues.
 
Check out the hihats (and other goodies) Gerry at Hazelshould has:

http://www.hazelshould.com/

He has new, used and discontinued hihats from 13" to 16". Very good sound files will help you narrow what you like. I have purchased a ride, a set of hats and splashes from Gerry. And Gerry is a solid guy.

GJS
 
If you are willing to look and be patient, you can find a good deal on what you want. I recently bought a pair of HHX Groove Hats brand new for $285. Very nice hats. They kept the qualities of my AA hats that I liked (weight, feel), but have a much cleaner tone and a nice, full open sound, which, like your AAX is the main thing my AAs lacked.

Dream Cymbals have been mentioned; their Contact hats seem to have a great sound and can be found new for right at $200. The Istanbul Xist line is another quality $200 option.

But again, decide on what you want even if it is out of your price range, then put in the time and effort to search for a deal. EBay is an obvious suggestion, but also check out Reverb.com. I bought my hats from a seller on that site, a drum shop selling off old stock, and I've seen some other great deals on there as well.
 
My two cents:

I love my 14" K light hi-hats. They weren't cheap.

I did buy a Dream Contact ride that I like a lot (use it mainly as a crash). I've read a lot of great reviews too. However, the one caveat I see with Dream is you better play them to check them out, as from what I've read there is a lot of variation since they're all hand worked. I did play momentarily on a set of Contact hats, and they didn't sound bad. I also bought a Dream Contact Splash. Not the greatest Splash I've ever played, but not the worst by a long shot,and for the price!

The more I visit this forum, the more grateful I've become for living in the Midwest: a half a day's drive from almost everything of value East of the Mississippi.

Good luck in your search! Let us know what you end up getting.
 
As you say they are expensive but I have not found anything yet to top my standard K hats. Both the 13" and 14" versions just fit my ear to a "T". I also have a set of 14" New Beats that I like for louder applications. I have since moved on but the 14" A custom hats were very nice as well.

Be patient and save. There is no worse feeling than bringing something that wasn't quite right home and realizing, this is not what I wanted.
 
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