Gibraltar SC-DC Hi Hat Drop Clutch

After many years, the original clutch that came with my set was finally torn up...it was to the point where as soon as the hi hats would crash together, they would separate and get looser and looser until they were almost a full foot apart.Finally, I decided to stop being lazy and replace the part. Now, I've been playing drums for a few years now, but never had to replace the clutch; I honestly didn't even know it was called a clutch until I had to look it up. (P.S. If, like me, you've been playing for a few years or longer and have never cared to take the time to learn your instrument, do so now. I was shocked and how much better my drumming sounded after replacing all of the old hardware and drum heads. This may sound obvious to established drummers, but I always assumed it was all technique, which is important, but so is having good equipment.)As it turns out, this clutch is every bit as easy and intuitive to install as you would hope it to be. There's a few brief instructions on the back, and it won't take you more than a few minutes to replace the old, janky one with this shiny, solid piece of Gibraltar craftsmanship. Now, my hi-hats stay exactly where I want them to, and if I do find that they've separated a little more than I like over time, it's a super easy and quick adjustment to do so.Great piece of equipment that's worth every penny. I can tell this thing is going to last 5-10 years, easy. It's a solid, dense chunk of metal that stays right where you want it to.

I liked the ease of setting this up for my hi-hat. It's pretty easy to take on and off, and it works exactly as you need it. Wasn't a bad price, you can never go wrong with a Gibraltar product.

Greatest high-hat clutch I have used!

I was looking for a cheaply priced hi hat drop clutch... well, I saw this.This thing would be perfect if not for one thing... the hook never seems to grab the hat completely. It will grab it but only by the very edge. I tried tinkering with it and cannot seem to get it to grab. I can reach over and push it to grab it fully and I can feel heavy resistance. I'm giving thought of taking sandpaper to the hook until it can grab the hat completely. Also, no instructions were included. Luckily, I know about these devices and have used them before... but I could see this being an issue for anyone that hasn't.Overall, it serves the purpose well. Despite the hook only partially grabbing the hat, I have been able to use this device with no hiccups in play.

This clutch is exactly what I was looking (and hoping) for. I recently purchased a DW One-Touch Hi-Hat Clutch to replace an aging DW Drum Workshop SM379 Standard Hi-Hat Clutch. The One-Touch was close to a perfect solution because I keep my hats very loose needed a way to ensure that the bottom retaining nut did not back off. On the SM379 that nut is secured by tightening with a drum key. The One-Touch locked in place without a drum key, but required a lot of turns before it properly seated, making the more clumsy drum key solution actually quicker.The quick release mechanism on this clutch is both fast and simple. No drum key required, and no threading and tightening. The fact that I do not need to thread a retaining nut makes this worth its weight in gold to me. The retaining nut slips on and firmly locks, and can be released by pushing on the bottom.Another plus is this is less expensive than either of the DW clutches, and is constructed as solidly as the DW ones too. I am ordering a few more of these to outfit my other hi-hat stands. If you like keeping your top hat loose or just want a clutch that sets up and tears down with zero hassle this is the one to get in my opinion.

I absolutely love the design of this hi-hat clutch. Previous clutches have screws that bit into my hi-hat rod and now it looks like swiss cheese. Yeah, time to replace it...but now I don't have to worry about the new one getting eaten up.This clutch design tightens by hugging the rod and it holds pretty tightly when I play. It hasn't loosened up once yet and I appreciate that it has a non-threaded part where the upper hi-hat is held so it doesn't eat my hi-hat either.Good, solid quality by Gibraltar at a good price! I was satisfied enough with this that I avoided the more pricey Tama and Pearl clutches.

I had a Cannon brand clutch and I bought this one to replace it. What I like about this one is how the release lever works. On the Cannon the lever was vertical. This made actuating it a less natural motion. With this one you hit it with a down stroke of your stick and it releases. That motion is much more natural and this makes it easier to use. An argument could be made that this one coule be easier to actuate accidentally but I have had no issue with it.Aside from the actuation of the release it is also well made and works very well.

Some have noted they had to tweak it a bit to get it to release/catch well. I don't doubt that, but the one I have works just fine. I have had to play with the opening on my high hats a bit, though; the way the catch works, there's an "unsweet spot" where the opened catch lever will push down on the dropped cymbal, and you may not want that. Especially considering the clutch is slightly heavier than a normal one, to begin with.It's also been noted that you may want to do something if you want more of that 'sizzle' sound while the hat is dropped. Since you can't manually keep that tiny gap - plus the clutch's weight - you may need to play with a felt-washer-spring-washer-felt system between the hats. Just trim the spring for the exact sizzle you want. I'm probably going to be doing this myself.The lever works well to release the hat. I typically use 5B sticks, and just a light but solid tap releases. When I'm using my 7A's, it takes a slight bit more effort, but it works.