Hi-Hat too big?

Question:

Hi-Hat too big?

I have a 14'' Chin Dal hi-hat, and it's never in a prefect horizontal position; so when I lift my foot it makes some noise. Is that normal for it's size, and is there a way for it to stop doing that? I already tried adjusting the lower knob btw

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hey! I have a few suggestions that may be worth looking into. I'm assuming that you don't want to increase the gap height between the two cymbals any more or that would be the obvious quick fix. The first thing I would look at is the felt on the base and the two felts on the top cymbal carriage. Repeated striking from that same angle tends to compress the felts on only one side causing the cymbal or cymbals to sit at an angle which will cause the lips of the cymbals to make contact when open. Sometimes adjusting the felts or just replacing them is an easy answer.

Another thing to do is to check the suspension rod for any bowing or bending. Packing around hardware is notorious for tweaking the rod which can offset the top cymbal enough to hit the bottom one. Just carefully straighten it out if you can and that should help. Another thought- you wrote that you adjusted the tilt control knob on the base. Unless you have a metal plate between it and your lower felt those knobs can prove to be quite ineffective. Let me know if any of these things were helpful and have fun playing!!

p.s. Have you tried increasing the tension of the lift spring that supports the cymbal suspension rod?