A lot of cool cats ,headbangers or whatever think that the music rises above the gear and that you're totally hip,jive,rad or or kickass if you just do your thing.----and that includes whacking the hell out of a cymbal with a stick the size of treetrunk or not using a sleeve on the stud/stem. That's what this looks like to me heavy hitting and metal on metal.---- ahh, this cheap Paiste crap----if it had been a 6 lb. Zildjian, it never would have happened! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=QlP7Z-HPS8k

Yep I agree. Unless it was a faulty cymbal (pretty rare these days, most cymbal companies have warranties and don't want to ship out knowingly faulty cymbals that they will have to replace for free) the results are from bad technique and/or bad stand mounting. Obviously a Paiste 2002 (even an older one) is high quality. It's not just going to break with average use.

I don't want to sound like an old fogey here (hey, I'm still in my 30's..........barely!), but this whole "American Idol" and "Guitar Hero" generation has all kinds of "kids" thinking that they can sing, or play the guitar, or drum, even if they can't, or more importantly, aren't willing to learn how the "right way".

I suppose you could say the same thing happened when the Beatles exploded onto the scene. All of sudden, there were thousands of guys who wanted to be just like Ringo (and we certainly have drum manufacturing evidence to support that claim). But that of course was a different time. There were no internet shortcuts or buttons on a video game controller. You found a teacher and started learning basic technique. And "kids" those days had attention spans that lasted for more than 5.2 seconds.

The young "punks" who idolize Travis Barker and care more about tatoos then cymbals, do you think they have the mindset, attention span or wherewithall to think about using cymbal sleeves or taking care of their equipment? Hitting the cymbals the right way? Leaving the wing nut loose so they cymbal has room to move and breathe? Using protective cases?

There are always exceptions of course, but I believe the "Me First-Look at Me-I'm going to play the drums and upload the video to YouTube and be famous" generation has contributed to a lot of bad technique and abused gear. After all, they don't have the drive or motiviation or work ethic to stick with it. So what do they care if they throw a cymbal into the car after practice or kick the bass drum over at a show? It's not like they'll stick with the drums 6 months from now, and Mommy and Daddy paid for it, so who cares about the equipment? It's all about them right now, right now, right now, right now, me, me, me, me!

I know that probably sounds stupid, but I think that is at least a mild contributing factor into a lot of broken and abused gear. I've seen way more then I have ever seen in the last few years.

Is this a top hat or bottom? If it's a bottom, one of the guys I work with suggested JB Weld plus the grommet. Work the JB into the cracks and leave a bit of a layer (smoothed with a wet finger, use rubber gloves) on the lathed areas and let harden for a few days, add the grommet and you should be good to go.

I was pretty upset when I started this thread. -A bit calmer now.

What upset me the most was the fact that the guy i got it from was calling it a piece of crap, when it infact was a very nice vintage Hi hat cymbal. It took him less than a week to destroy this more than 30 years old cymbal. Hi hat cymbals are not ment to be crash cymbals, they are (so I'm told) far to thin around the center to withstand the beating of a crash. Even if they where stronger, cymbals are made to be played, not whacked.

This top Hi hat is unfourtunatly beyond repair. It has lost all of its tone, and any effort to repair it would be a waste of time. -Sad but true.

/ Johan M