felt or rubber washers on hihats

fmass92 · #1 02-16-2010, 06:58 AM

whats the difference between using these two? the rubber probably lasts longer I'm guessing, but are there any other advantages/disadvantages?

fmass92 · #2 02-16-2010, 05:55 PM

anyone?? i was gonna order these today if people said they were good.

Les Ismore · #3 02-16-2010, 09:57 PM

Go to the hardware store and get fiber washers, you may have to drill them out. If you're looking for max-tone. far superior to felt/rubber.

shrink · #4 02-16-2010, 10:00 PM

I had the rubber ones that mapex ship with their kits.. but decided i didnt like them. Didnt like the way they jerked the cymbal when you were hitting a little harder, and figured that it could only be anothing thing to make cymbals cracked.

Went back to felt, and noticed no downfall in sound quality, and feel much better about the longevity of my cymbals now.

The odds of any material that small, making the blindest bit of difference to how a cymbal sounds is almost 0. Your talking about a 16-20" slab of metal, vibrating as the result of an impact equaling many tens of pounds per inch. Theres nothing a little piece of felt or rubber can do to change that. It would only be at the very last few seconds of decay that would possibly be changed and when playing, i seriously doubt anyone could really hear that.

Les Ismore · #5 02-16-2010, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shrink

I had the rubber ones that mapex ship with their kits.. but decided i didnt like them. Didnt like the way they jerked the cymbal when you were hitting a little harder, and figured that it could only be anothing thing to make cymbals cracked.

Went back to felt, and noticed no downfall in sound quality, and feel much better about the longevity of my cymbals now.

The odds of any material that small, making the blindest bit of difference to how a cymbal sounds is almost 0. Your talking about a 16-20" slab of metal, vibrating as the result of an impact equaling many tens of pounds per inch. Theres nothing a little piece of felt or rubber can do to change that. It would only be at the very last few seconds of decay that would possibly be changed and when playing, i seriously doubt anyone could really hear that.

Better do more experimenting, start with your crashes. No top felt on crashes will make a noticeable difference in sound/decay. Top HH cymbal will also sound different with less contact.

shrink · #6 02-16-2010, 11:06 PM

did plenty enough experimenting to know that the tiny top felts i use contribute nothing audible whatsoever to the process. The top felts i use are only about 8mm thick.

on my HH however im still using the mapex rubber accentuators that came with the hi hat stand, as they work fine in this role (mostly due to much less movement in the cymbals themselves)

Have no real urge to change them in this role, as the effect here of the rubber/felts is of course more noticeable, given that its physically clamping the top cymbal.

fmass92 · #7 02-16-2010, 11:46 PM

I'm not gonna be using the rubber on anything else but the hihat (it comes with the clutch I'm gonna order) so hopefully it works out. thanks guys

Fiery · #8 02-17-2010, 07:00 PM

I prefer rubber to felt on hi-hats because you can get them pretty snug around the top cymbal for good pedal control, but they still allow it to move freely when hit with a stick.

drumtechdad · #9 02-17-2010, 07:10 PM

While you're at it, don't just get the Pearl NP-210 clutch washers:

Get the Pearl NP-208 cup as well:

The combination really opens up your hats. Best $6 you'll ever spend on your kit.

fmass92 · #10 02-17-2010, 10:44 PM

@drumtechdad

are you supposed to put a felt over that cup thing? or is just that and the bottom hat?

drumtechdad · #11 02-18-2010, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fmass92

@drumtechdad

are you supposed to put a felt over that cup thing? or is just that and the bottom hat?

No felt. The cymbal rests on the rubber cup, which only touches it at three tiny points, thus allowing the cymbal to ring more.

KarlCrafton · #12 02-18-2010, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Les Ismore

Go to the hardware store and get fiber washers, you may have to drill them out. If you're looking for max-tone. far superior to felt/rubber.

I'm going to try this out. The gaskets should conform a bit to the cymbal once they become worn in a little too--but not get as mushy.....
Nice tip!

Les Ismore · #13 02-19-2010, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarlCrafton

I'm going to try this out. The gaskets should conform a bit to the cymbal once they become worn in a little too--but not get as mushy.....
Nice tip!

Actually, fiber washers are pretty tough, they don't conform. I use fiber washers on the top HH.

I use no felt on tops of crashes. Anything on top of a crash will affect decay, so if you want less decay, use a felt 'loose' or cranked-down a little.