... Oh, rolling your own 'Hi-hats'... sorry, wrong thread.

Tommy Chong

I had a pair of 14" Paiste RUDES I got new in high school back in the 80's. they were OK for hard rock, but as I moved on to top40 music and wedding gigs, I realized how LOW the tuning of those hats really was, especially after a buddy loaned me a pair of ZILD new beats for a couple months. Ended up that I found a lone ZILD 14" hi-hat at a pawn shop for..you guessed it... $50. I put the ZILD on top of the RUDE and got a lower grade set-up similar to the classic K/Z pairing. this helped balance the sound, plus I never did like the stick response of the RUDE on top. Went on to play that set-up for like 10 years. Yes Sir

I rolled with a pair of 24s. A 24" Diril and 24" K Light Ride. The sizzle was sweet, but the chick was not even a "chuck", and the articulation was horrible. Plus, even with the HH stand spring cranked, the action was super slow.

Yes, I mix and match. 2 of my favorite sets of hats are mix-and-matched pairs. I went through a phase where I looked high and low for 14" orphan cymbals, and just A/B'd the begeezus out of 'em. Eventually, I came up with a few winning pairs and sold off everything else. I did the same thing with 18" cymbals, looking for a nice orchestral pair, and I found a sweet combo. I haven't sold off any 18s, though, 'cause it's my favorite size, and I like them all...

Paiste 2000/2k2 heavy hats makes a great pair of hats to mix with. I get two distinctly different sets of hats by mixing in the Wild top. I use both the top AND the bottom from the heavy set.

Now my 15" hollow logo hats will never be mixed.