TigerBill's DrumBeat Community Forums for Free Expert Advice on Drums and Percussion.

Thanks, guys.

Flash, I don't think there's any single ideal location - it depends on the cymbal, and of course, the effect one is going for. Some guys like just one rivet in a cymbal, others like six or eight distributed evenly around the edge, others like them more like what I've done.

These rivets are just over two inches in from the edge. I stopped by the Zildjian web site the other day, and in their FAQ (where they describe their rivet installation services), they mentioned locating the rivets 1-1/2" in from the edge. Still others like to have rivets about halfway between the edge and the center. As I understand it, the one thing to avoid is having them too close to the edge - one, so they don't damp the vibrations of the cymbal too much, and two, to minimize the risk of the cymbal developing cracks.

I just took dimes and nickels, and using just a little bit of tape (just enough to keep them on the cymbal, but muffling the cymbal as little as possible), tried a bunch of different locations, with one, two, or three coins. I marked the spots with a Sharpie, where the response seemed to be the best and most even. I started by drilling just one hole, and trying different rivets (I just bought a bunch of Agop and Bosphorus rivets - the Bos are a bit smaller, FWIW). However, after playing it a bit, I wasn't getting enough rivet sound out of either the single Agop or single Bos rivet, so I went back to my drill press and knocked out the second hole - and with two Agop rivets, that's when this cymbal really kicked in.

I've been planning to pick up a swish/pang at some point, and based on the success with this cymbal, I want to see if I can track down a 20" Twenty china to try out. I don't know if it'll be the sound I want, and I'm not married to the Paiste brand, but if the Twenty ride works so well with rivets, I think the china is worth a shot.

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