Paiste 2002 Classic 14" Sound Edge HH

Wow, am very impressed with this hi-hat! I work as a pro drummer, mainly playing funk, soul, hip hop and drum 'n' bass, and find most hi-hats far too thick, clunky and loud, especially when played open. I used to have the Paiste Alpha (basically budget version of this) which was good so I took a chance and splashed out more than I'd normally spend on this and it paid off, am thrilled with it! It is nice and thin, making it very responsive, and sit nicely in the mix, sensitively, and not overly cutting through over the kick, snare and other instruments, making it a great all - rounder for 'cleaner' music. If I'm honest I don't think this is really for rock guys as it's probably too quiet.

The tone is fairly high pitched (almost like a 13") so it has a satisfying and sufficiently cutting 'chick', but as it's thin the stepped and open sound is less cutting and fairly quiet compared to most other hats I've tried.

This is most I've spent on a hi-hat, and I don't regret it, highly recommended!!

I dreamt with these HH for ages and did not get disappointed. I was looking to change my previous pair for some years now, and could not spend 500€ on hi-hats, but wanted that same quality. These are up there with Zildjian K. They're really versatile, I play rock, but also blues, r&b and hip-hop, and these Hi-hats do the work. They cut really good through the rest of the instruments, they are awesome for studio recording as well as live gigs. With no amplification they work great in small/medium clubs. Besides that, various idols of mine used this model, for example Bonham (zeppelin) and nick mason (pink floyd), but I know chad smith (rhcp) and brad wilk (audioslave/RATM) also used them! P.s.: they are beautiful.