Hi-hat Stands

mmulcahy1

Platinum Member
I was just reading the thread about how you would prioritize replacing your gear and it got me to thinking about hi-hat stands.

What makes for a good hi-hat stand and what makes a good one at an inexpensive price?

I have a simple Sound Percussion stand that (to me) appears to work just fine and only cost me about $59 when I bought it, and does everything that the expensive ones do.

Am I missing something here?
 
I have an old 1980's Pearl, its simple, light for gigging and cost me only $10. Has the spikes so even though just single braced, never moves around. I have a newer Pearl too, but it only stays home, and honestly I don't need it.
Some hihat stands can be some of the heaviest pieces of hardware out there.
The old motto, if it works, use it.
 
What makes for a good hi-hat stand and what makes a good one at an inexpensive price?

Am I missing something here?

Good HH stand...

Lack of play in the pedal transfer apparatus and base plate hinge.. Smoothness of operation. Adjustable tension. Reliability of operation. Ease of setup/breakdown. Consistency of seated/clasped cymbal position. Metallurgical and machining quality. Spring quality and linearity. Durability.


On a cheap hat stand....

Metal feet poke through the rubber boots. You close the hat and there's a full 1/8" of play in the pedal. Pedal wobbles side to side on the stamped hinge knuckle. The clutch is a straight through wing nut with no tension distribution that strips over time due to poorly cut threads in pot metal. Etc.


Like any mechanical part... You have stamped, casted, and machined variants. You have various qualities of alloys. You have various machining tolerances. You have various engineering qualities.
 
With HH stands, the more solid they sit, the more control you have. Solid doesn’t equal weight. There’s spring tension adjustments too. If for example, you can’t get the hats to open quickly, then it’s tough to splash them. If on the other hand they open fast, then top out, then you get a smacking sound at the end, which is hugely annoying and tough to control.

There’s chain drive vs. direct too that can be a preference issue. There’s now also a lever drive in some lines that accelerate the hats. Some like those, because they provide them more solid splash control. They are as much a preference as BD pedals IMHO. We just tend not to argue over them as much.
 
I look for stability and lack of creeping, ease of use, direct action, light or mid-weight, and cost as factors in considering a hi-hat stand. There are many mid-level hi-hat stands such as the Yamaha 740, the PDF 800 series, and the Ludwig Atlas Standard that meet these criteria and come in at under $100.
 
Many basic hihats tend to have problems with handling heavier, bigger hats, like 15", 16" or 17". More advanced hihats with adjustable settings can handle them better.

Plus all what KamaK said.
 
The legs have to swivel.the first time you are in a tight setup on stage and you swivel the legs to accommodate your snare stand and an amp or monitor, you will never go back to fixed legs. Also dont overlook the clutch. i bought a DW onetouch clutch and will never go back to another clutch. i use it on my Gibraltar stand.
 
I like my Yamaha HS-850. it has double braced swivel legs and a chain pull. I think around 11 tension settings as well. i use 14" hats med-hvy cymbals.
 
If you do replace your hi-hat stand, don't be too quick to get rid of the older one, unless it's completely trashed.

I play percussion in an acoustic group, we have a few holiday season events this month. This old Pearl stand was sitting in my closet for two years, and then I got an idea for it. Using a cowbell "U" clamp and a 5/16" hex bolt to hang sleigh bells from the pull rod.

Ho ho ho !
 

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Many basic hihats tend to have problems with handling heavier, bigger hats, like 15", 16" or 17". More advanced hihats with adjustable settings can handle them better.

Plus all what KamaK said.

I'm starting to find my ATLAS Classic flat based hi hat stand a little wobbly and unresponsive with my 17" and 18" hats. It still seems to handle my 16's ok. Maybe the spring is starting to die. I'll have to get a beefier Ludwig hi hat stand. All my other stands are Ludwig and my OCD won't allow me to use my old Pearl Eliminator hi hat stand. Stupid, I know...
 
I'm starting to find my ATLAS Classic flat based hi hat stand a little wobbly and unresponsive with my 17" and 18" hats.

If you're mechanically inclined, there's a possibility that you can remove the bottom, extract the spring, add a few plastic plumbing washers, and put the spring back in. This will give the spring more tension (like an adjustable tension stand) at the expense of travel distance.
 
I'm starting to find my ATLAS Classic flat based hi hat stand a little wobbly and unresponsive with my 17" and 18" hats. It still seems to handle my 16's ok. Maybe the spring is starting to die. I'll have to get a beefier Ludwig hi hat stand. All my other stands are Ludwig and my OCD won't allow me to use my old Pearl Eliminator hi hat stand. Stupid, I know...

My DW6000 flat-based is wobbly with a set of 16"s on it. I tend to leave it home and take my PDP820 with me most places when 16"s are on the menu. Shame, it plays beautifully. It really isn't suited for the larger hats though. (Actually, it wobbles a bit even with my 14"s!)
 
I love my PDP HH820---I have 2 of them---I will never buy anything else!

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You lost me at, "....what makes a good one at an inexpensive price?"

I've had many, but have settled on a DW7000 and a three-legged DW5500, and both are big and stable enough, the only difference being in it being single-braced or double-braced, the rest is the same. I still grab the 5500 first when going out. I don't want to have to worry about it when I'm on the gig. The 5500 keeps me from wondering.
 
You lost me at, "....what makes a good one at an inexpensive price?"

I just don't get the extremely wide price differences between hi-hat stands.

What does a stand that costs $279 do that's different than my $59 stand? Is it only about stability?

Educate me!
 
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