It's an incomplete clutch for a hi-hat....mid 70's or later I think.

I'm looking at the '75 catalog now and it must be later since there are no stands with the large black wingnuts except for the throne on page 19. And the '84 catalog has them in use but only on the Atlas ll.

With the threaded hollow rod on this part I agree it could be a hat clutch. Strange that the disc is oval for that purpose yet the oval shape would be easier to grasp and adjust tension during play.

update : I agree completely now. I looked closer at the picture in the '84 catalog on page 43 and there is a wider washer on the top of the clutch, though I can't see if it is an oval I am going to assume it is.

Good catch, thank you.

Thanks.

The big black handles came into use around late 1977 or early 1978 as I recall. I bought some Atlas cymbal stands in those years and they came with those. They didn't make it into the catalog art until later.

Most pictures of Buddy playing Ludwigs in the late 70s show that oval lock bar on his hi-hat clutch. At the time I always wondered what it was since my older clutch didn't have it.

Thank you K.O., for the details. I started playing on Ludwig in 1965 then switched to Rogers in 1974 so I kinda lost track of Ludwig's fine detail changes. I'm going to try it on one of my Rogers hats.