cymbal grommet fit issues - Page 1

I recently took the dive and bought a vintage 22" Zildjan ride off ebay for 50 bucks. It had a couple tiny cracks around the hole so I figured I could put a grommet in it if I won it. I did and did.

Just today I completed replaceing everything vintage hardware-wise, but the set-o-matic, with modern hardware and the darned plastic cup's tip on the straight stand won't fit into the grommet. So, I chucked up a dowel rod on my drill press and jammed that into the hole of that black plastic cup and and held a file to it while the drill was spinning. This made the O.D. smaller, but still not enough as I had to stop before it was too thin. So, I took a hacksaw and cut an X into that black cup's tip and that made enough room for it to compress inwards and the grommeted cymbal fit on the stand. I figured I would post this as someone else may run into the same issue.

Have a wonderful evening

drumhackguitar2Car Driving2Chewie:PartyStage Band2

What diameter cymbal sleeve are you using? If you are using a modern one, then most modern stands have sleeves designed for 8mm tilters. You might want to switch to a 6mm sleeve, if it will fit on the threads. Also, you might want to try clear aquarium hose (sold in most pets stores). It comes in a variety of diameters and can be easily cut to length, and is pretty cheap too.

Do you really need the grommet? I have always been told that as long as you are keeping the cymbal loose on the stand (so it has a lot of room to "flap") and are using cymbal stand with a good quality sleeve in good condition, then you should be ok. If the cracks are going to spread from vibrations, than the grommet isn't going to really help all that much, is it? I could be wrong though. Anytime I've seen grommets used on cymbal center holes was always to prevent further keyholing (and so it wouldn't fit "cockeyed" on a stand). Never seen one used to stop cracks before.

I've had an old 60's 12" A Zildjian splash with several "spider web" cracks around the bell for years. I mount the cymbal very loose and on a good quality hard plastic cymbal sleeve, and I haven't had any problem with the cracks spreading or getting bigger at all. Of course, your cymbal is much bigger and vibrates a lot more than a small, thin splash.

Just my two cents, glad you got it working in it's present state.