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Remote HiHat Project

Started by paulf707, August 12, 2018, 06:55:36 AM

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paulf707

I like to play with a central hihat. Partly for playability and 'open handed' styles, but mostly because I suffer with RSI in my right shoulder, and reaching over to the 'traditional' hihat location aggravates it.
(I know, I should learn to be ambidextrous and play hihat with my left - believe me I have tried, but my left arm is not as good as my right, and probably never will be).
With my early kits (with separate hihat controller pedals) I did this a lot, and with acoustic (and my old ddrum4) I experimented with cable hihats - and they do work, but (certainly the cheaper cables) have a 'lag' which is mildly frustrating. And the cable hats are an additional cost...

So with my 2Box project, I decided to take the (very useful) info from this thread:
http://www.2box-forum.com/index.php/topic,897.0.html
(Thanks Manfred!)
and build a remote version of the 2Box HiHat.....

I am fortunate in that in my desire to build up a 'non-standard' 2Box kit I have bought a number of 'job lots' of gear, and I have ended up with 2 hihat pads. However, 80% of this plan could be done with a single hihat pad - you would just need to design an alternative mounting for the hihat pad.




paulf707

#1
All photos are here:
https://1drv.ms/f/s!AvEC4KT8mxCMp-l5_9yW0-HcsISIkg


1-Remove 3 allen bolts from the bottom of the mounting block (on mine, one pad was a 3mm allen key, the other a 4mm allen key - no idea why!)
2-Carefully remove the lower section - the wires are not very long!
3-Loosen the jack socket nut, and remove the (very small) screw holding the circuit board
4-You can then completely remove the lower part of the mounting block
5-Unsolder the 4 wires from the circuit board (the black wires are common, but you might want to mark the red ones based on Manfred's circuit plans in the link above)
6-Solder on a new jack socket (common the two black wires to the 'sleeve' of the jack socket, and make a note of how you wire the Piezo and Switch to the 'tip' and 'ring')
7-I had to fold down the 'switching' terminals to avoid them catching inside the mounting block, and also cover the other terminals in insulating tape (as they may press agains the mouting block)
8-Re-assemble the mounting block, and my hihat pad was complete!

If you are using this process with a single hihat pad, then you will need to find an alternative mounting option for the pad (not using the 2Box mounting block)
The top of the mounting block is removed by gently removing the lower piece of foam, and then it should come away.
You may want to replace the 'chassis' jack socket I used with a 'line' socket, and then work out how to mount the pad.
I am hoping to re-use my 'spare' hihat pad (see lower down) as a cymbal pad - so if I work out a good mounting option I will post it here. The hole in the centre is quite large (see photos 18 & 19), but maybe with a couple of washers it could go on a normal cymbal stand?

paulf707

#2
On my second pad, I removed the mounting block by unscrewing the 3 allen bolts, removed the circuit board, unsoldered the pad wires from the circuit board,and then removing the foam and mounting block from the cymbal completely. (see notes above and pictures 1-10)

If you are doing this with a single pad, then you will have a circuit board and mounting block 'left over' from making the hihat pad (above).

11-Solder 3 new wires onto the hihat controller board (where the pad was previously connected) using Manfred's circuit diagram for assistance. I bridged across the 2 common terminals with a single wire, but you could put on 2 wires if you prefer.
12-Re-fit the controller board back into the mounting plate
13-Solder the wires onto a 'line' jack socket - I chose to discard the outer casing on mine as I had experimented with 'fixing' it between the foam pads, and that seemed to work OK. You might want to take some time before you start soldering / fixing to work out how best to mount your socket.
14/15-Re-assemble to the mounting block (without the pad), with the additional socket fixed in some way (mine clamped securely in the foam). I added tape to the contacts, and also across the gap in the foam to protect the controller board.
16/17-The mounting block can now be attached to the hihat rod and controlled in the normal way.

I ran a stereo trigger lead from the pad to the new line socket on the mounting block, and then from the normal socket on the mounting block to the drumit5 brain.
Powered up the brain, and all works as expected. I can play open / half / closed sounds on both pad and edge, and there is only a trigger cable connecting the pad to the hihat stand (so I can place it anywhere).

Very pleased with that result!!  ;D


paulf707

#3
Starting to get my kit set up now.....

-The hihat stand on it's lowest height should sit underneath any tom pads I mount on the left of my kit. I have cut down the hihat pull rod but I may need to trim it down a bit further (picture 20)
-My hihat pad mounts on the remaining section of the pull rod, and that is mounted to a second hihat clutch for the pull rod
-I cut a hole in the plastic end cap for a vertical rack tube the same size as a hihat cymbal hole (and reinforced with a couple of washers). I removed the foam pads from the hihat clutch and clamped it onto the end cap (where the hihat cymbal would go)
-I used this to mount the pull rod to the top of a rack pole, and then mount my hihat pad (which has a hihat mounting block on it still) onto the pull rod (pictures 21 & 22)

This worked in theory, but the pressure / vibration from the HiHat being hit very quickly started to pull the cap out of the tube. As you can see from the pictures I used a large washer above the cap (to try and reinforce the fitting). I did move the rack clamp up past the edge of the pole and sit up against the washer. This improved the stability slightly, but not enough to satisfy me.

(If anyone else is trying this - I suggest you note the red cable tie on picture 22 - without this there is a very real danger that if you under the lower clamp screw, the pull rod can drop into the vertical tube. The only saving grace is the pull rod is steel, so if you have one of those extending magnets for picking up dropped screws, you can use that to rescue it  :D

I have since tried a new option fitting the plastic end clamp into a standard dumit rack clamp (picture 23) - this seems to be more solid. I'm still not sure this is the 'final' design, but it allows me to move forward with the rest of the kit.