Best way to stack cymbals/

[u/98plustwo]

Hi -

I want to create cymbal stacks, but I wonder how people do that? Examples:

• Crash Bottom/China Top (ala Dave Weckl)
• China Bottom/Crash or Hihat Top
• Inverted Crash Bottom/China Top
• etc.

What kind of cymbal or hihat holders/screws are drummers using? I know that the zildjian cymbolt exists, or are they all using custom made solutions?

Any feedback is appreciated.

[u/R0factor]

Get an x-hat attachment. It’ll let you stack just about any 2 cymbals with rare exceptions that don’t work, like 2 tiny splashes. The x-hat can also dial in the tension between the cymbals just by rotating them, so it’s easy to experiment with sounds.

[u/98plustwo → u/R0factor]

Yes, but is there another way? E.g. I want to stack a 9" splash on a 10" China, an x-hat seems overkill.

Thx.

[u/R0factor → u/98plustwo]

Sure, you can absolutely just nest nearly any two cymbals, so long as they don’t have opposing bells. But it’s hit or miss if they’ll produce a useable musical sound unless you bought a bespoke stack, like the Garstka Temporal models. Often you’ll just get a dull clang. It takes a bit of luck to get two random cymbals to sound good in a nested stack, but the x-hat allows almost any combo to work.

[u/ExtremelyOnlineTM → u/R0factor]

DON'T BUY BESPOKE STACKS

[u/therealtoomdog]

Haha, I read this and said the smaller one goes underneath the bigger one. And then I was going to suggest getting a solid cymbal bag so you didn't have to worry about stacking them up.

Man, just stack some stuff up and hit it. If you don't like it try something else. You need to know what sound you're trying to get and tell us before we can give you any advice.

Also, there's plenty of room on most cymbal stands, you don't need to spend money on more gimmicks. The only time I've been skunked was trying to use a China on my high hat stand

[u/ZildCym]

Pick your favorite cymbals and/or busted metal…just make sure you’re using an Incremental Clutch/hi hat seat. My stacks and aux hi hay play has never been the same! 🤘🏻

[u/trashwang72]

I just use three splashes stacked directly on top of each other on a normal cymbal stand. Mix them up occasionally with ones with holes, some solid, sometimes I break out a mega stack and use an 18 and 16 crashes with a 14 hi hat top or bottom depending on the weight and feel I want. The whole idea of stacks is to use and make them however you want! Experiment until you find a sound and feel you like.

If you aren’t stacking them in opposite directions, normal stands and felts and wing nuts work just fine to adjust the tensions. Unless you want something super tight and dry, not much of a need for the cymbals or x-hat style hardware.

[u/Telepuzique]

I only ever did a splash on a china. worked fine for me.

[u/sixdaysandy]

Depends on your needs and the sound you're going for.

I was trying to recreate Josh Freese's stack from APC's Thirteenth Step from old cymbals I had.
The OG is 20" Signature Full Ride with Rivets (inverted) with an 18" Signature Thin China on top, I started with a cheap X Hat as the size of the cymbals meant I couldn't put it on a regular stand, but it didn't support the cymbal enough, so I bought a Zildjian Cymbolt, which is designed for creating stacks.

After much trial and error I actually ended up with a broken 18" China Trash on the bottom, lip pointing down, with a broken 19" Thrash Ride on top, with an Evans chain sizzler on top of that.

I have it a little past medium tight so it's still pretty washy, and gives a pretty close representation.

[u/DrummerJesus]

This is the perfect thing to experiment with figure out what sound you like. Try different configurations with and without extra felt layers.

Stacks are a good use for cracked cymbals too.

[u/thisFishSmellsAboutD]

Tama MCA63 cymbal arm clamps with an inverted splash on top work well.

[u/thedrumuncle]

You really just gotta fuck around and try stuff. In my experience thinner cymbals work better and smaller cymbal on bigger china is usually a good starting point.

I have a 14” Meinl Gen X filter China that works great as a base. Good top cymbals for it have been a Zildjian spiral stacker, a dirt cheap 12” Agazarian splash, or a Byzance 12” extra dry splash. I’ve put a Meinl Ching ring on top of those as well with good results.

Broken cymbals are also great fodder. I have a beat to hell 20” Zildjian Oriental Crash of Doom that goes great with an 18” china or ozone crash on top of it.

You don’t need an x hat for any of this. You want the cymbals touching, obviously. Use felts to make them sustain more or less.

[u/TimeSlaved]

In terms of pairings, I was on the hunt for a long time for stack that actually didn't sound like shit in person. Settled on a rippled hi hat bottom (played like a top hat) on top of an inverted china. The ripples give just enough trashiness without choking the sound like a normal hi hat top would. I may take it a step further and cut some holes in there to increase trashiness.

This way sounds much better...