# Cymbal stacks



## Xenos0176 (Oct 21, 2013)

I feel stupid but i just discovered these a few weeks ago, and i said to myself hey why don't i have one of those. I know there are manyyyyy different combos out there based on any 2 cymbals to be paired but anyways, I wanna go for this kinda stack sound AltPress.com Premiere:LAST CHANCE TO REASON -"The Escapist" (OFFICIAL Music Video) - YouTube

I've noticed that some setups are like hi hats with opposite sides (if you will), like in the video, on top of each other and others are 'stacked' on the same side. I guess another thing i should bring up is how to accomplish these on a cymbal stand. I've tried having both cymbals on the same side (one china and a crash or splash cymbal) but i don't have enough space on my stand to screw the nut back on. I assume there's some product for this as well as for the other 'orientation' i mentioned before.

TL;DR what cymbal pair do i get to acquire a sound like the youtube clip?


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## Sinborn (Oct 22, 2013)

if your china has a traditional bell (big and round) you can stack the crash upside-down inside the china and your wingnut might still go on. I'm using an X-hat clamp with a 14" hat top and a 14" wuhan china for the bottom. I like the sound I get from that but the stick I clamp my clutch to is barely long enough. I also stacked a broken 19" crash in a broken 22" a zildjian china on a regular stand. It's much lower pictched and quicker, but it is a nice contrast to the small one. I only use that for fooling around.

I'd say you should get like a 16" china and 14" crash. Looks like your example video might be like 18"/16". You really just need to experiment.


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## tripforks (Oct 22, 2013)

The video looks something like a 14" crash on top of an 18". maybe something smaller in between.

A good starting point for stacked cymbals are the Sabian Max Stax, which matches either 8", 10", or 12" splashes and chinas for a nice stacked attack. I haven't tried these personally, but they're a Mike Portnoy set, and they worked really well for him.

You could flesh this out to match a 16" thin crash with a 16" china to get a bit bigger a sound. Or just experiment with whatever's handy, but I recommend keeping to thin cymbals at first. It's really easy to over-choke the sound when building stacks.


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## Alfrer (Oct 23, 2013)

I would say thats an 18" China under a 14" Crash. 

If you look for another good stacks try out a 19" Pargon China under an 18" HHX Ozone Crash, you might know this from the mighty Troy Wright. Pretty expensive but it sounds (for me) incredible.


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## Xenos0176 (Oct 25, 2013)

hm alright, thanks for the ideas guys, i have a 14" china floating around as well as an 18" wuhan china that i might try experimenting with, its just yea adjusting my stand to fit 2 cymbals on there. I'm sure my local drum store will have things for that


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## Xenos0176 (Oct 25, 2013)

Sinborn said:


> if your china has a traditional bell (big and round) you can stack the crash upside-down inside the china and your wingnut might still go on. I'm using an X-hat clamp with a 14" hat top and a 14" wuhan china for the bottom. I like the sound I get from that but the stick I clamp my clutch to is barely long enough. I also stacked a broken 19" crash in a broken 22" a zildjian china on a regular stand. It's much lower pictched and quicker, but it is a nice contrast to the small one. I only use that for fooling around.
> 
> I'd say you should get like a 16" china and 14" crash. Looks like your example video might be like 18"/16". You really just need to experiment.



Yea my wing nut doesn't have enough space to start screwing back on the stand unfortunately when i tried that set up with a 14" china and 10" splash  (actually it might be a 12" china)


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## r134 (Oct 25, 2013)

some companies make stands designed to be used in stacks. Most companies call them Xhat mounts, and they look like mini hi-hat stands


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## Sinborn (Oct 26, 2013)

Xenos0176 said:


> Yea my wing nut doesn't have enough space to start screwing back on the stand unfortunately when i tried that set up with a 14" china and 10" splash  (actually it might be a 12" china)


It's because of the large knub of a bell Wuhans have. You cannot flip a crash on top of a Wuhan with a regular stand.

http://www.keymusic.com/gfx_productcode/XL/51701/Meinl-MB20-20RCHB-Rock-China-20.jpg <--this is the kind of china you can stack on a regular stand.

http://static.musiciansfriend.com/derivates/18/001/224/121/DV016_Jpg_Large_442700.083_16in.jpg <--this will require some sort of hi-hat/xhat stand

Amazon.com: Gibraltar 9707XB Brake Xhat W Arm And Clamp: Musical Instruments <--Xhat clamp

Make sure you get one with a long-enough rod. I have a Tama xhat and the tube you clamp the clutch to, it's barely long enough (I mean another 1/4" and I couldn't tighten it). I think it was designed around 14" hi-hats and the wuhan has a taller profile from that bell.


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## russmuller (Oct 31, 2013)

I love Steve Judd's triple-cymbal stack. It's trashy, but still meaty. I think a lot of stacks wind up sounding too choked or thin. The tone of that thing on Karnivool's Sound Awake is just sick.


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