Recently I was asked how to attach a cymbal upright rather than flat/parallel to the board, like on one of the pictures I have on the My washboards page.
The pictures on that page date from a few years ago and my washboard is no longer set up like that. It was too heavy to be comfortable and over time I prefer having my cymbal parallel and centered on the bottom of my washbord. But if you want to give it a try it’s not that hard. I used a the Gibraltar SC-CSA Cymbal Stacker. This device is made to attach to a 8mm cymbal stand top so a metric 8mm threaded rod sticking out of your washboard is what you will need to attach it to.
(There are other cymbal attaching devices out there for drummers, I happened on this one at a local store, but it’s far from perfect and I would suggest searching a bit to see what else is available before spending any hard earned cash; and reading to the end of this article..)
The Cymbal Stacker is made to hold two cymbals and has a tilter for the top one. It comes apart and has a “base piece” on to which the stacker portion goes (it is almost harder to describe than to set up). Remove the felts for the bottom cymbal (unless you want to try putting one there), screw the base piece on the 8mm threaded rod or bolt, put the top stacker portion on that and position it correctly by tightening the drum key bolt on the base piece and the two drum key bolts on the top stacker portion.
For the time I was using it I threaded the base piece so that I could put it on top of the top stacker portion so that the cymbal would be higher up (see last picture). However because it was heavy AND the cymbal has a tendency to fall over sideways (if you see what I mean), I went back to using a Mini Cymbal Stacker which I now screw onto a longer 8mm threaded rod witch is attached in the middle of a piece of wood that I have added to the bottom of my washboard for that purpose.
These days, if I wanted to position a cymbal upright I would probably try placing a Mini Cymbal Stacker at the end of a bent 8mm threaded rod. Less elegant but a lot lighter. Hopefully two locknuts (back and front), and maybe some glue, is all you would need to prevent the cymbal falling over sideways…
