I'm planning on buying several new cymbals. I'm thinking Zildjian A-series. Now I already have a few stands, one of which is a decent straight cymbal stand, and one is a messed up boom stand for my ride(I just put the ride on the straight stand because my crash cymbal is too terrible to be used). My Hi-hat stand though is pretty terrible. The clutch always slips, which is terrible, and sometimes I have to reconnect the chain from the pedal to the rod, or whatever you call it. Basically I need a new hi-hat stand when I get the cymbals.

Are there any reccomendatoins on good hi-hat stands. It mainly just has to be reliable, and never slip/come apart/ give me a hard time. Almost equally important is that it reasonably priced, and preferably rather low priced. The cymbals will be expensive enough, I don't want to spend $150 on a hi-hat stand.

any help would be much appreciated

I got a used DW 2 or 3 leg stand for $50 used about 10 years ago. It's actuallt missing the third leg, which is removeable. It still works fine because the pedal has a solid base and acts like the third leg. Other than the nut that holds the pedal to the chain coming loose from time to time, it's worked great for 10 years.

Cheers
ben adrian

are there any other suggestions?

Mostly I'd wonder if there are brands to stay away from, or to look at. I don't know what the drum shop is going to carry, but I'm probably going to go in and try to talk the guy into a sweet deal on 3-4 new avedis zildjian cymbals, and 2-3 stands.

Should I get a pearl Hi-hat, a tama, or are there hi-hat's cheap? Not those brands specifically, but what you guys know. The hi-hat is just the only stand that will really bother me if it doesn't work well, I hate adjusting the hi-hat in the middle of a asong because my hi-hat is stuck open, closed, or whatever.

I have had good luck with a brand called "dixon" they make some cheaper(no marketable name) stuff that is well built.

I've had really great luck with all the Yamaha stuff, even the lighter 600 and 700 series. I've been playing between two and six nights a week for the past ten years and have Yamaha hardware on all fours of my drumkits. I've got a few Yamaha 700-series stands that I've had for close to 15 years now and still see regular use. It's really great, very reliable, very well-built stuff. The Yamaha 700-series hi hat stand is a great addition to any studio or situation where lots of people would be playing it. It has a memory lock for height stability, spurs underneath the pedal, rotating legs, for easy access to double bass drum pedals, and a tension adjustment. It also doesn't weigh 300 lbs. and costs less than $100. Hard to beat, in my book.

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

In the top slots for most hardware:

Tama
DW
Sonor
Yamaha

Out of these the Tama will be cheapest...
On the top end, say $150, I've found the new HH stand they make, the "Iron Cobra" (the HH stand counterpart to the pedal of the same name) is a great deal. It's a two leg design, but actually has a third leg under the pedal...you'd have to see it. Anyway it's VERY sold, I think much more so that the DW versions I've tried.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg= ... id/440021/

for about $89, this one is great:
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/fg= ... id/440448/

If you go the traditional three leg route, Tama or DW or Yamaha is fine. Sonor is nice, but pricey.

Avoid Pearl and Mapex like the plague.

One note: Usually a new clutch (about $10-$15) and a bottle of blue medium grade Loc-tite is all you need to get an old HH stand to work ok. Loc-tite is great for keeping all the linkages from rattling apart. Also: Tri-flow lube on the chain/center rod/pedal hinges, etc. Don't even go near the stand w/ WD-40.

DW hardware is great, but it's such heavy duty that it is really (wait for it!) heavy. All my hardware is DW and it makes for a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth when my feeble arms have to haul it into a van.

Don't get Premier hardware. You'd be better off building it out of Lego than using Premier.

I've had really good luck over the last 3 yrs w/ my Yamaha hi hat stand. I think it was certainly under $150 (med weight), and takes pretty serious abuse a few nights a week without a hitch. might have tightened it up once... haven't had good results w/pearl stands considering what you may pay for them-

I've used a Paerl stand though the center post has become bent over the years. So I'm now using a Mapex stand that is great and only cost $120.

I really appreciate all the helpful responses, thank you. I'm going to the store today, and if I end up making my purchases on this visit, I'll report back to you lovely posters how it goes.