Same for me; slightly angled toward me, and they have to be uniformly angled and the same height. Just my OCD kicking in.

I saw a drummer last year in a bar who had his crashes angled at a pretty severe angle away from him. It was uncomfortable to look at, and I wondered if he didn't break cymbals doing that.

For me, it, depends on the kit I`m playing...Most of the time, my cymbals are at medium height and straight except for the ride with is slightly angled...

Cheers

For the flat players, do you ever ding or break cymbals that way?

I can't seem to get a decent crash playing flat, unless their up reasonably high and when their to high I can't ride them well. Here's the set up that works for me -

JimmySticks: I never ding or break cymbals and mine are mounted like in your photo. I noticed your snare drum angle and wondered if you played matched grip? Your grip does not make a difference other then possibly playing the crash cymbal to your left. When I do a crash on a flat ride cymbal I just angle my stick differently to play the edge of the cymbal with the tapered area of the stick. That is more of a jazz accent usually with the bass drum instead of what most people think of a crash.

Interesting. Recently set the crashes at the old 70s angle just for kicks. Mostly an aesthetics thing and to be different from everyone else going flat. I'm liking it. But the setup constantly changes depending on current mood. :)

Actually, that's my traditional grip set up. The picture might be deceiving, or maybe I had the snare stand turned a bit to much, but the snare should be tilted down on the right side. I do have a harder time getting that left crash in traditional though, like you mentioned.

I do play both grips, traditional for lighter jazz stuff. Traditional grip at least makes me feel like a jazz drummer!:D

I like your cymbal set up with the 3 cymbals coming off of one stand. Nice and tidy. I am waiting on a Gibralter cymbal arm extension as we speak so I can add one more cymbal without adding another stand.

JS!

Your post caught my eye ... and whereas I don't usually put up pics, I thought you might enjoy! So ... FLAT, and have played the same configuration and set up for close to the past 30 years! Buddy influenced from about 1973, in both set up, brand, and cymbal angle. These are my 1967/68 Fibes Buddy Rich's, but regardless of what set I'm gigging, the cymbal angle remains the same. I work primarily with a Frank Sinatra Show .. but .. I also work with a smooth jazz quartet, and a 6 piece "corporate gig" band that plays all the dance stuff from the 60's through today. Only reason I make mention of all that is I don't alter the cymbal set up/angle. Always ... FLAT. Works for me! And it goes without saying that it's completely subjective to personal taste!

Tommyp

Thanks Jimmy, I'm on a never-ending quest to reduce the weight of the old hardware duffel bag :)

Got the Dixon cymbal arms at a local shop here called Century Drums. Great vintage drum shop and just up the street from me, I feel pretty lucky about that.

Glad you popped in Tommyp!

Man, I love that Fibes kit. Just beautiful and it must look and sound great on stage. The flat cymbal look really fits that kit. The cymbals look right that way.

Thanks for sharing!Cool1