Hihat with other brand cymbals

[mrallgood101]

Peanutismint - hey bro, definitely let me know how that 2Box hi-hat works out when it arrives. I gotta to test one out at Sam Ash here in NY. They have like 6 full kits (Roland, Yamaha, 2box) on display to sample, and the 2Box hi-hat felt a little strange. It felt like it was a little late when opening & closing. But then again....that was the floor model, and I'm sure the settings and the hi hat itself probably been through world War 5 in that store with the tons of e-drum testing customers! Plus I think that I'm learning that I'm a little more like fulrmr when it comes to rubber hi-hats and cymbals. But I still wanna know how that 2box hi-hat works out for you!

fulrmr - Do you have a video of some sort on youtube of that hi-hat? I think at some point I'm gonna give Jman's hi hat a shot, but I was asking Jman if he had a video of his 2box hi-hat conversion in detail on youtube. he siad he only has the one where he's playing on it. Is your hi-hat still going strong? What would you say are the pros 7 the cons on your current hi-hat? I dunno... so far I'm leaning towards the acoustic hi-hat with this simple hi-hat mic-holder contraption I seen on Zzounds.com

hemiboy - Whoa! That is a strong convincing statement from a former Roland owner. I like that!How is your hi-hat working for you? And do you have the whole 2Box kit, or just the module? When I tried the pads, I told this guy (waiting to play the 2Box) the pads don't feel right. He look at me and said, "Oh really? You think something is wroing with the pads? Hmmm...the pads huh?" Then he got behind that damn 2Box kit and it sounded like Omar, Buddy Rich and Neil Peart had entered the building!! When he finished, he smiled, handed me the sticks and said, "There's nothing wrong with those pads" I smiled  and walked to another part of the store feeling 8 inches tall!! Lol

[hemiboy]

I have the module only and converted my ludwigs with meshes, triggers and real cymbals,dampened and triggered ala J man, from stealthdrums.com. 
 All  trigger perfectly, never a hiccup for 2 years almost. I hear on this  forum that the pads are great! Ask Murgen, he swears by them. If I wanted an e kit , I would look at a Pintech Phoenix snare,  and their ConcertCast toms on a Gibraltar rack. By the way, I use Jman's Conversion kit on my hi hat and it's the best!

[fulrmr]

Nope...no vid. Just detailed walk throughs of all my DIY builds at vdrumsforum.com. My conversion still works just fine although I have since switched to Gen16s Because nothing beats the feel of "real" hats. That said...if you go with traditional hats....you should check out the Direct Source pickups from Gen16 instead of a traditional mic setup. With these there will be no feedback....ever. Folks have had great success using these for "A" cymbals.

Also...there are many of us here that are previous Roland fanboys...until the 2Box emerged. I myself had the TD-30 and the 2Box side by side for a year....and we all know who won.

[mrallgood101]

Man, lemme tell ya, when I'm confused about what to buy or do (which is often these days!) in regards to putting this e-kit together, you guys respond with great useful insight rom your personal experiences.... which is why I LOVE this forum.

Wow... So fulrmr, just like Jman, you had the TD30 side by side and it still wasn't winning over the 2box. That's inspiring to hear!I also agree about the feel of a real hi-hat and a real ride. But Jman's conversion kits are with real cymbals. What made you turn to the Gen16 hi hat? Also... are you happy with the sound and performance of the Gen16? I keep hearing mixed reviews. And on YouTube sometimes they sound thin, and sometimes they sound good. So I really don't know. What's your take on it?

hemiboy... you definitely got me curious about Jman's hi-hat. I'm gonna definitely try out his Ride cymbal 3zone trigger on a Sabian Crash Ride that I have. And oh, the 2box pads triggered GREAT.... it was just I who sucked on'em.

[fulrmr]

Jman's kits are great! I've used them for quite a few years(and built a few of my own) with Sabian B8s and I have even converted some of the less impressive Nickel Gen16s that I was not pleased with the tones even after using the Access Tool to tweak them. I trigger samples from the 2Box with these.

That said....the Gen's can be very useful especially the hats, which in my opinion are the shining star of the whole system. Well...those and the DS pickups. This combination of the hats/DS pickup are what sold me me on this system. However mastering the Access Tool is the key to this system for producing tones tailored to one's individual liking.(and we all have very different tastes)

Mixed reviews tend to stem from preconceived expectations that these will sound exactly like your favorite traditional cymbals straight out of the box. Truth is (with the Nickel especially) these are fantastic effects cymbals with unique tones all their own with endless potential for tailoring tones that could very well mimic traditional A's...if you invest the time tweaking. The Bronze coating on the new BB have a warmer base tone which seemingly makes this process a bit easier.

If you go this route...I suggest getting the Buffed Bronze  series, as even all the vids and reviews praise their dominance over the Nickel series for depth and warmth.  Plus they look a bit more "traditional" too.

Don't get confused. There is a multitude of great gear out there. Just be patient....do your homework, figure out what you want out of your kit and stick with it, set a budget and buy accordingly. Once you do this there should be no need for "buyer's remorse" or looking back because will you have then accomplished the goal you set out to achieve. After that...set another goal and keep moving forward. It's all a continuing, ever evolving  process that will probly never completely end....so take small bites so you don't choke.

[mrallgood101]

I hear u, fulrmr! Thanks for the insight. You are sooooo right.

[Sharkuel]

Hey People.

Using a Y cable splitter, does it work? I am thinking of making a design inside my Cymbal, but inverted (magnet on top, board bellow). Using a Male TRS split to two TRS outputs, either male or female, doesn't cut it? I mean, duplicating the stereo signal, if i make myself clear. lol

My idea was one TRS tip (or one stereo cable, if the splitter is female) handle the piezo/swich, and the other TRS handle the open/close values. In my head it kinda works, but if someone already tried, it would be awesome to have such input.

I am comfortable to do some basic soldering, but solder a circuit board i am afraid i destroy the thing.

[Jman]

Hey People.

Using a Y cable splitter, does it work? I am thinking of making a design inside my Cymbal, but inverted (magnet on top, board bellow). Using a Male TRS split to two TRS outputs, either male or female, doesn't cut it? I mean, duplicating the stereo signal, if i make myself clear. lol

My idea was one TRS tip (or one stereo cable, if the splitter is female) handle the piezo/swich, and the other TRS handle the open/close values. In my head it kinda works, but if someone already tried, it would be awesome to have such input.

I am comfortable to do some basic soldering, but solder a circuit board i am afraid i destroy the thing.

I think I understand what you are wanting to do. Here is an old thread where I removed the control board from a 2Box HH and used it for my own HH cymbal. I did use a stereo headphone type splitter from the box to the module and to the cymbal and that worked. I did not mount mine inside cymbals, but the thread might give you the idea:
http://www.2box-forum.com/index.php/topic,722.0.html

I simply clipped each wire of the 2Box cymbal control board in the middle, making a note of how it was wired in the 2Box cymbal and labeling the 2Box cymbal wires for easy reconnection later. I used that 2Box PCB in my own box. Later, after I started using the Manfred board I put the 2Box HH cymbal back together by splicing/soldering the wires back together with shrink wrap covering the tiny solder connections. And the 2Box cymbal worked like new.

[Sharkuel]

Jman, well that makes me more happy.

I am trying stuff, essencially. My idea is to use it with a dropclutch. I have one, and i want to use it. Under the pedal i read here that is the best route to go, but no drop clutch is possible (at least that is cheap).

And since the board suffers with the constant vibration on the original design, i think i can minimize the vibrations if i put the board on the cymbal underneath.

All for cience. 

[Sevenchaos]

Thanks Jman for the info!
I was just looking info if i can modify 2box own hihat and your thread just popped up 
Now i need to wait it to arrive, then do some soldering.
I was thinking that i probably use old single kick pedal, take beater off and use that as hihat control pedal.

[mday]

I was thinking that i probably use old single kick pedal, take beater off and use that as hihat control pedal.

That's what I did.

http://www.2box-forum.com/index.php/topic,2490.msg21319.html#new

[Sevenchaos]

Looks great man! Thanks for the link too.
Is it demon chain? Im just going to use ludwigs kick pedal that i dont use and keep my eliminators together 

That's what I did.

http://www.2box-forum.com/index.php/topic,2490.msg21319.html#new

[Sevenchaos]

Finally got it done. Got 2box hat on friday but i was working on friday and saturday, so i didnt have time to do it until today.
So i just opened hihats connector box, cleaned it, did few tests with magnets, soldered few cables and assembly it to a box. Works like a dream.
I did put some little piece of foam under the magnet ,since i never play hats ”dead” closed, but if i want to i can just push the pedal all the way down.
One good thing on that cheap ludwigs kick pedal is that you can snap chain of so easily. So its fast as opening hats screw to drop it down. You just do it on the floor 
Here are few photos of it