OK, here we go. Received my CROSSTOWN stuff the other day. The HH3 Hi Hat stand and a CS3 cymbal stand in the shipping box weighed 13.34 lbs! Lightweight stuff fo sho.
I'll start my impressions with the HH3 and compare it to a YAMAHA 700 series HH stand. Right off the bat you can see the CROSSTOWN (HH3) looks like the 700's little sibling. The HH3 gives up 1" of height in the bottom section standing 23" to the 700's 24"
Leg spread measured center-center on the rubber feet-
HH3 16"
700 18"
Right away you can see the 700 is more stable on the ground, but will this be a factor at the gig(?).
Upper tube length-
HH3 14"
700 16"
Upper tube weights (this factors in later*)-
HH3 .39 lbs
700 .59 lbs
Top rod length-
HH3 17 1/4"
700 19 3/4"
Spring tension on the HH3 is about where the 700's is at when placed at the second lowest setting, did not find the HH3 spring setting unplayable, I feel YAMAHA got the spring feeling good considering the spring tension is not adjustable. The foot board looks identical to the 700 series board.
Everything about the HH3 is smaller than the 700 which is considered a small(er) HH, so I won't say the HH3 looks like a toy (even tho it does). Compared to, its noticeably more diminutive than the 700 series. This isn’t a HH3 vs 700 series HH shootout btw, the 700 is in the ‘mid weight’ HH stand category, and HH3 is ‘light weight’, but since there’s a ton of YAMAHA 700 series Hi Hats out there, people can have something widely familiar to compare the HH3 to.
The HH3 and the CS3 (and I’m sure the SS3) share the same leg design and material, its a stamped aluminum alloy and one look at the underside (pic #5) shows you how thin this stuff is. The leg receivers and the base are all one piece (pic #2), so my earlier idea of possibly tapping a set screw hole (there’s 3 set screws btw) and inserting a wing screw to allow the legs/base to swivel is definitely out of the question, no can do.
The heel plate hinge on the HH3 is a simple pin affair at the motion point (pic #4). The lower rod bumper where the chain assembly hits the bottom of the stand is a piece of felt, not rubber. I’ll have this felt switched out for rubber, don't think weight will be an issue.
All the little here and there’s, the felt bumper, no washer under the bottom rod nut at the connecting point (pic #4), the absence of a memory lock on the top tube, the shorter upper rod/tube, no locking nut on the upper rod, all these little things are no doubt part of the HH3’s light-weight formula, but will it be a factor at the gig(?).
The light weight formulae worked, when the HH3 is lifted off the ground, that’s when you say “Yeah!!!” The HH3 is extremely light and feels great to carry, one handed of course, and that’s what YAMAHA was going for with the design here.
Now what I don’t like about HH3. It doesn’t go high enough for me, I’m missing those 2 extra inches on the 700 has, so what I did was switched-out the 700’s upper tube and rod to make it work for me*.
This isn’t a matter of like it or not, just a matter of ‘what is’... the HH3 and the CS3 are so light weight, I can already see extra care needs to be taken when packing these stands with their steel brethren in a hardware bag, or hardware case. If these CROSSROADS stands get in any sort of 'hardware bag fight' with heavier steel stands, they’re going to get hurt and most likely damaged, possibly broken.
YAMAHA offers the CROSSTOWN stands complete as a bagged kit and that’s probably the best way for them to travel, amongst their own. I’m going to be careful to put these guys in the hardware bag last, on top of their steel workmates... until I can get all CROSSTOWN stuff.
CS3 Cymbal stand-
Grab it, lift it... another big “Yeah!!!”
CS3 max leg spread-
26.5”
Max height from the floor to where the two felts meet-
54.5”
You've already heard about the lower section clamp accepting 7/8” tubbing. The top section of the CS3 tubbing is all of .5” (pic #7), think of a 1/2” drill bit, that’s how small the top section tubbing is, woowzer!
The tilter (pic #6) is geared with fine teeth and is a smallish, off-set affair, again... this tilter is gonna easily get its butt kicked in a hardware bag fight with other steel stands, so be careful. Couple of phattie felts and a wing nut top off the CS3.
Summing it up:
*With the swapped 700 upper tube and rod, my HH3 now weighs 5 lbs Still a big “Yeah!!!” And I can worry-free clamp onto the upper tube section.
So do all the little things matter when it comes to performance?
I gigged the HH3 and CS3 this weekend and can honestly say the HH3 is impressive. It is 'not' my imagination the HH3 actually felt 'better' than the 700 series, better in the sense that lightweight aluminum alloy doesn't transfer shock like steel does, HH3 was a smoother ride for sure. How cool is that?
No stability issues with either stand, tho a swivel base on the HH3 would be a luxury. The spring tension on HH3 was fine, and I'll try HH3 again on the next gig with 15" hats, but no complaints at all with the spring tension, the overall feel of HH3 was so delightful, nothing else matters anyway.
I found the HH3 to be basically invisible, there's hardly any shock transfer, it plays great (update in 6 months after wear), and when its time to strike the stage the weight of these stands is a big nothing burger.
At the gig, same-same for the CS3. Miss the boom option, but no issues at all with CS3's overall performance. Everything slides smooth, and micro placement adjustments are that much easier, the stand is so light, you just nudge it into place with two fingers. The fun part was breaking down and telling the other band members to check out my new stands, see how light they are, they were all blown away.
This CROSSTOWN duo passed the performance test, and I cannot leave out the fact that they looked 'bloody ace' onstage, these stands are sexy AF with their phattie legs and brushed silver finish, really 'fresh' looking.
Local gigging Im definitely 'all in' on the CROSSROADS stuff. Waiting for a CROSSROADS throne that'll probably never happen, it would be nice tho, max load rate it, make the load warnings very clear etc.
Again, we'll have to wait n' see in 6 months how these stands wear, but wearable parts look easily replaceable if there's a problem.
Two thumbs way up here as the hardware load has been lightened and playability has not been compromised, and in the case of HH3 enhanced, due to the loss of shock transfer, which really did impress me onstage.
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