Who's using 16" hihats ?

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BennyK

BennyK

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I have a med. thin 60's A Zildjian crash over a heavy Sabian AAX hihat bottom , and I've grown to like this setup a lot .
 
I have a set made from a heavy-ish Zildjian bottom (with rivets!) and a very light Turkish Grand Master top. Super expressive, moody, and smooth. I heard a pair of Agop Trad Lights at a NAMM show 10 years ago and have jonesed for them ever since. Some day.
 
I've heard some great ones but I don't seem to connect with them when I play them
 
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I put this set together with a pair of t3 trans stamp A's. Light top, very heavy bottom (probably a band cymbal) with 4 rivets. Warm, smooth, and sloshy, but still with a good chick because of the heavy bottom.

 
I have a pair of heavy Meinl Symphonic cymbals. Dark/Loud especially with the foot splash...it really has me trying to use that technique more.
 
It took last 10 years to move up to 15’s which now there’s no going back but 16’s seem a little too much for my tastes. Never understood why there is no offerings of 14 1/2” & 15 1/2” hats
 
I use two 16 crash cymbals for one set of hats - a 60's Zildjian thin crash (1150 g) over a Paiste Twenty crash (1280 g). They are not the most cutting loud rock hats, but blend well and do well for lower volume settings.
 
I love 16’s for jazz. I’ve had a nice set of old A’s, and currently use some 16 Agop traditional lights. The fatness of the stick sound, the big wide chick (or chup), and the foot splashes are amazing.

I use 15’s for everything else.
 
i have a 16'' sabian AA medium crash top over a AA marching bottom. they sound like a great pair of new beats. for a LONG time my go-to hats have been old 15'' new beats, but i am enjoying the 16's.
 
I've got some Avedis Zildjian late 50's 16" matched flange hats. They sound amazing. I've somehow amassed a large amount of hats though and keep them rotated. They are sweet though.
 
I moved from 13" and 14" hats several years ago to my now preferred 15" size, but I do play a pair of 16" UFiP Extatic series hats for that rig and am crazy about them. Very soft and full.

For myself, I have have never had any luck matching crash cymbals into a successful set of hats. I know many do, but it seems for my ear that I need the design and engineering that goes into designing a good set of hats as opposed to just two cymbals of the same diameter.

Now that I said that, watch me match up two crashes and fall in love! Here they are on a rehearsal house kit...

20190302_125342.jpg
 
15” is my go-to size but I do have a pair of the discontinued 16” Paiste Twenty medium light hats that make it out for some gigs/sessions.
 
I have a 16" medium A crash that I have been wanting to sell, but haven't gotten any interest. Would this make a good bottom since it's pretty heavy? I wonder if one of these cheap Istanbul Mehmet crashes that keep popping up would go good on top?
 
I just starting gigging with 16” K Sweet Hats. I played them at NAMM and fell in love and they arrived at my house a couple of weeks later. Had been using 15”s of various brands and flavors. I’m digging the 16” K Sweets so far. They sound warm and full and have that buttery feel but don’t feel big and clunky and are easy to control.
 
Just to provide further details, I got a used pair of the 16” K Light Zildjians. They were in amazing condition. I haven’t taken them to a gig yet, but they sound great and feel great to play! The chick sound is good too.

I could see myself using them for probably everything. I’m a bit of a hi hat fanatic...have some old A pairs (14s and 15s) that I still use...couple of old K singles...then a larger pair made up of crashes. So I like to rotate stuff sometimes. The K sweets seem real nice as well, though I haven’t played those.
 
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Johnny D said:
I just starting gigging with 16” K Sweet Hats. I played them at NAMM and fell in love and they arrived at my house a couple of weeks later. Had been using 15”s of various brands and flavors. I’m digging the 16” K Sweets so far. They sound warm and full and have that buttery feel but don’t feel big and clunky and are easy to control.
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The 16 k sweets are something special. They have a different feel from the 16 k lights. They are hands down the best set 16s I've played.
 
I frequently use 16's. I have a pair of Zildjian 16" K light hats which I like quite a lot, but I usually use the top cymbal as the bottom paired with an Instanbul Turk on top.
 
Tornado said:
I have a 16" medium A crash that I have been wanting to sell, but haven't gotten any interest. Would this make a good bottom since it's pretty heavy? I wonder if one of these cheap Istanbul Mehmet crashes that keep popping up would go good on top?
Click to expand...

Easy... take your cymbal to the local music retailer and try itout with whatever's on display . There are usually a few hihat stands set up . Steve Gadd used the heavier cymbal on top - old K's if I remember correctly . I have a pair of 13" Dreams with the ' bottom' on top and like that better . More bite less swish .
 
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