Fix for loose hi-hat clutch?

gconyers

Senior Member
I like to adjust my top hat so that there is a bit of free movement and it 'sizzles' loosely against the bottom hat giving me a great wash (a la Ringo). Problem is- the nut that holds the top hat on either comes loose after a few minutes or there is too much play in the clutch when I play the hi-hat with my foot (you can actually hear the cymbal rubbing against the threads when pressing/lifting the foot pedal). The only way to stop this is by tightening the nut but it chokes the cymbal.

This is a really annoying problem. I use a Yamaha 1100s hi-hat stand so I don't think quality is really the issue.

Anyone have any suggestions? Is there a product to prevent this from happening? Different felts?
 
Some people put a smaller diameter felt, or double felt, below the *bottom* hi hat cymbal, so the bottom rocks back/forth more. Check out vids of Joe Morello, who's hi hat cymbals are quite sloshy.
Your top cymbal should have nut on base tight, so it cannot be undone whilst playing. Adjust its sway with the top nut. Not all stands do that part well though, and once the top nut is 'loose' it can loosen even more. There are usually two nuts to adjust up there, to aid against that.
The problem with too sloshy a hihat is you will lose availability to get a nice 'chick' sound.
 
On the clutch I have, there is a little lug that tightens the threads to the other end, so you can have the nut can be a little loose and stay in place.
 
Some people put a smaller diameter felt, or double felt, below the *bottom* hi hat cymbal, so the bottom rocks back/forth more. Check out vids of Joe Morello, who's hi hat cymbals are quite sloshy.
Your top cymbal should have nut on base tight, so it cannot be undone whilst playing. Adjust its sway with the top nut. Not all stands do that part well though, and once the top nut is 'loose' it can loosen even more. There are usually two nuts to adjust up there, to aid against that.
The problem with too sloshy a hihat is you will lose availability to get a nice 'chick' sound.

Agreed....too sloshy is no good. I've never heard of the double felt idea- may be worth a try.

Grunter...one of the first things that came to mind was the plumber's tape idea.

The clutch I use is a Yamaha LC930. It has drum key locks on the top and bottom nuts.

It may be that I'm not using the lock on the bottom nut properly but it seems like it's pretty straightforward.

Incidentally, after I posted this thread, I saw a few others below talking about similar issues and special clutches. My bad. :)

Thanks for the input guys.
 
Most of the clutches I have have the lock nut configuration. You can adjust them as loosely or tightly as you want and the double or lock nut will keep them there. New HH clutches are really inexpensive if you decide that you need one.

Dennis
 
I use a Remo quick-lock clutch which doesn't have threads on the bottom where the cymbal sits.
 
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