K custom Session hats, slight warping

[Trevor Magnusson]

I just acquired a pair of K Custom Sesion hats, near new, for a good
price (for Austalia, that is).

Impressions: nice, darker than New Beats, not as dark as K Custom
Darks. Savage hammering on the bell of the top cymbal. The undersized
top means you never get the ultra-tight choked sound when playing them
closed, unless yot play with the bead on the top surface. The chick
sound is not as sweet as the darks either, but the (to me) annoying
"whoop" of the darks is almost absent.

I think the pair I have is slightly warped - they don't close properly
unless I really lean on them. I put them on a flat surface, and sure
enough both of them have slight gaps around the edge (2 or 3mm) - two
gaps per cymbal, 180 degrees, so it looks like the warping is simple
curvature in nature. This means that if I place the top cymbal on the
bottom, and the gaps are maximum, then rotating the top cymbal by 90
degrees almost fixes things.

Is this generally considered a problem? Is it normal? Can / should I do
anything about it?

[Stan Mulder]

On Thu, 17 Feb 2005 20:43:58 -0800, Trevor Magnusson wrote:

> Is this generally considered a problem? Is it normal? Can / should I do
> anything about it?

Trevor,

The warping doesn't sound normal. However, the different diameters is
deliberate in the K Custom Session hat line. I own a pair and love
them. I wasn't used to the darker sound but after a few weeks I wouldn't
change them for anything, so I believe yours are worth fixing. You might
ask cymbalsmith Mike Skiba if he can correct the warp. He did some work on
two of my cymbals. On my 14" Sabian thin crash he changed the shape
slightly, among other enhancements.

Stan

[Paul Hobson]

I thought hi-hats were intended to have a slight warp. The edges of my
Zildjian New Beats have never been entirely flush around the entire
circumference. I was told this was to make them louder while closed.
Could this be what Trevor is talking about?

\\paul

--
Paul M. Hobson
Georgia Institute of Technology
http://www.underthecouch.org
.:you may want to fix my email
address before you send anything:.

[Trevor Magnusson]

>I own a pair and love them. I wasn't used to the darker sound
>but after a few weeks I wouldn't change them for anything

Thanks Stan.
I don't know if this is connected, but my K Custom Session hats have a
high-pitched after-ring that I find slightly annoying. I've tried
recording them, and the problem seems less serious.
In the absence of RMMPnet.org, I've posted a sound file at:
http://www.cloneensemble.com/Ringing_Gadd_Hats.mp3
You can hear the ring, but it is less conspicuous than when you're in
the room with them. This ring is not present on any of my other hats.
Is there anyone else here who has played the Gadd hats? Did you notice
the after-ring? Am I going paranoid?