out with the old in with the new

[NUTHA JASON]

i almost started crying the weekend before easter when to my horror i noticed a crack in my hihat. these have been such fun expressive hihats (medium bottom on top and sound edge bottom on bottom). i was warned that the sound edge has a tendency to crack the top cymbal eventually but it was still a sad moment.
so i immediately began surfing the net for a new hihat sound and got these signature power hihats for £135.
i tested them this weekend and they are awesome... totally different from the previous pair. very throaty when played splashy and capable of a much more defined 'chick' sound when played with the foot. the over all sound is dark and silvery and definitely more contemporary than the older set which had that classic bonham flavour.
in summary i am happy and cannot wait to record them.

the old girls...

the crack...

the new girls...

a close up of the beautiful signature lathing

j

[Trommur]

Dude, beautiful new hats! Those signitures sure look nice though I'm not very fond of Paiste ;)

Joe

[NUTHA JASON]

which is your brand of choice?

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Very nice new find. Surprized the old top section cracked since it was really a bottom and much heavier than tops. It must have to due with the wave of the bottom section leaving a void where you hit the top cymbal.

[cjl71178]

congrats on the new hats nutha!

man, you got a vintage bottom sound edge there.

when i was using Paiste (i'm a zildjian guy now), i had a set of 13" power hi hats and they were great. then i heard a pair of the dark crisp and traded the powers in. man, i wish i would've never gotten rid of either of them. paiste makes great cymbals.

enjoy the powers.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

Originally Posted by NUTHA JASON

which is your brand of choice?

By his signature it must be Zildjian, Meinl, and Sabian. Not much left. LOL

[NUTHA JASON]

whoops i didn't see his sig.

my favourite non paiste hihat is the zildjian quickbeat.

thanks guys.

yeah i think that's the weakness of the wave pattern...it behaves like an anvil.

the quickbeat has a similar principle of air venting but rather has holes than a wave. its a great funk hat.

j

[Wegadrummer]

Nice girls nutha! I cant wait for some soundfiles of them!
How old where the other cymbals?
And yes, I am saving to get some quickbeats, also my favourite of the nonpaiste cymbals.. (paiste for life)
The only problem is that it can be kinda washy, is the powerhats so?

[NUTHA JASON]

they take a lot of effort to play on account that they are heavy and do require more weight behind the stroke to get equal sound level to the old hats. they are much louder at full bore tho. i had to adjust my spring tension to maximum to allow me to get similar control fo the hats. sound files coming soon as i am buying a camcorder soon. so watch this space.... the quick beat was washy as i recall but in a useful rather than irritating way. i used to play a lot of reggae gigs with that hat.

the sound edge is undated but i wouldn't be surprised if it is around 25 years old. the other one i got new a few years ago.
j

[crazyhorse]

You've got the twins for mine... I've had my 14" signature power hats for years now. I definitely love the signature series as a whole. The power hats don't really fit my playing those so hopefully the guys at Saluda will come up with something that fits what I'm looking for. Either way, they are an awesome set for sure.

[jollymosher]

if that paiste soundedge bottom is 13" i will take it off your hands nutha...

Nice new cymbals... they are what we come to expect from your great cymbal choices.

[Deathmetalconga]

I'm happy for you and those are nice cymbals and all, but not particularly jaw-dropping like Bosphoruses.

Actually, I'm more interested in the ones that are damaged!

[NUTHA JASON]

lol.

for me hihats must be as versatile as possible because i play all sorts of stuff in my band. the old pair were certainly that. the jury is still out on these new ones. i like the way they held their own in our funk stuff but i'm not yet convinced about the greenday and nirvana stuff. but then i'm really not sitting still listening to hihat timbre when i'm wailing on them during smells like teen spirit.

the sound edge is a14" but i will holdonto it for another time.

j

[joeybeats]

Hi Hats are called girls? Learn something new everyday here at DW. Enjoy your new babies. Joey

[crazyhorse]

Well they make high pitched sounds when you beat them........

[Trommur]

Originally Posted by NUTHA JASON

which is your brand of choice?

Mine would be Sabian, I really dig them, plus MP uses them :P

Joe

[d.c.drummer]

Originally Posted by crazyhorse

Well they make high pitched sounds when you beat them........

lol, im sure you'll never have domestic problems. nice hats nutha

[crazyhorse]

Yea right... my fiancee would whoop my behind lol (Besides.. no way I'd beat the woman that bought me my latest set!)

[jollymosher]

Originally Posted by joeybeats

Hi Hats are called girls? Learn something new everyday here at DW. Enjoy your new babies. Joey

umm hes English dude. (well i think he is from south Africa..) but either way its an English thing.

[maddrummr]

Awesome new sigs.
I wish i had the money to get some new cymbals : (

[NUTHA JASON]

basically its the waves act like a set of anvils. the up curves that make contact with the top cymbal support it during playing. the valleys do not. so its a matter of chaos. over a long period of time a point along the edge of the top hat might find itself 'hanging' over valleys on the bottom hat at the exact time that you as a drummer are playing a hard acent. on normal hats the top hat is supported at the point of impact but on sound edge the explosive energy is focused on only the unsupported point of impact. if this happens enough times the metal eventually will fail. its a pity becasue apart from this one flaw its a great cymbal design.

j

[teejcombos]

so theoretically all cymbals incorporating airwave designs are at risk, be it minor or major in comparison to the sound edges..? it raises a bit of concern within myself because i was looking at getting a pair of k mastersounds as a lighter alternative to my other hats, which i've just gotten, which i'll also post pictures of. with the k mastersounds, the airwave design appears to be a bit smaller in comparison to the 2002 sound edges. would this decrease such a risk? ever heard of k mastersounds cracking for this reason?

by the way i like the look of those hats man. i've never played power hats, but i've played the heavy hats and man, they were great.

Awesome hats man! I've been eyeballing the same hats for a while but I can't afford them, even the used ones :( Not after buying a completely new kit...

[NUTHA JASON]

so theoretically all cymbals incorporating airwave designs are at risk, be it minor or major in comparison to the sound edges..? it raises a bit of concern within myself because i was looking at getting a pair of k mastersounds as a lighter alternative to my other hats, which i've just gotten, which i'll also post pictures of. with the k mastersounds, the airwave design appears to be a bit smaller in comparison to the 2002 sound edges. would this decrease such a risk? ever heard of k mastersounds cracking for this reason?

no i haven't and i can't help but wonder if the guys at zildjian made the waves smaller for this very reason. although as a manufacturer this wave design could be a perfect example of built in obsolesence (made literally to break after a time and thus be rebought)

its all an interesting question. from my viewpoint it might be worth me just buying a used half hat to complete the sound edge pair and when that goes i just keep replacing the top hat... it did take two years of constant very hard gigging to develop this crack.

j

[driver]

I played Paiste Alpha Sound Edges at a rehearsal studio in london and I must say I loved the sound and looking online they sell for a fair price. I wouldnt have even looked at them if I was in the market for SEs but now knowing what I know (and playing what I have played) i'd have to give the 2002 SEs a good demo before I bought them over the Alphas. Paiste should make 2002 SE bottom and Alpha SE top and a way to buy the alpha top seperatly for when it cracks. Well that would be the ideal situation but cant see it happening.

Anyways good buy Jason Sig hats are the best tho I play (the very good) 14'' 2002 Crunch Hats for the loud stuff and by the end of the month (hopefully) K/Z or even Sig Dark Crisp (recorded with them and they were so good but a little quiet for 2 guitars!) for everything else.

[Afrolicious]

Very nice Nutha, the Signature hats are great. I almost bought them when I was looking for new hats but then I found a set of Alphas which were great as well and only half as expensive. Still, the signatures stuck in my mind as the best hats I ever heard so far.

[rockitman]

I personally am a fan of Zildjian and Sabian, and am using 14' Zildjian Mastersounds now. I like them but they are a little bright. They do have great definition, versitility, but my tastes have changed overtime and I think I'd like a darker dryer set.
I am really intrigued by Paiste Dark Energy. Anyone have any input on these? Aside from them being hella expensive.

[fijjibo]

Wow, nice new hats J.

Is it me or do the top and bottom of the old hats not match?

Not in sound, but the fact that the top has red ink and the bottom had black.

[NUTHA JASON]

yeah the top is a bottom medium 2002 i bought new. the bottom is the sound edge 2002 vintage.

j

Was never a big Paiste fan......although great cymbals......but anyhow.... Signatures would by my choice! Nice Jason!