DWSM505 Drop-Lock Clutch, any good?

G

gibeachhead

Senior Member
I have been trying to find a decent drop clutch for my hi hats, for the past year basically. The best option is to get the Iron Cobra Clutch, but that is another $120 to spend. For a clutch I would prefer to spend less, but so far what I have seen and heard about are not very good. I recently heard about the DW Drop-Lock Clutch; it looks like it could hold up and get the job done, and it is only $25.00.

But before I commit to buying it, I would like to see if anyone here has used it and if they can vouch for it or what not.

Any help is greatly appreciated!


505.jpg
 
I have the DW drop clutch as well as the pearl. The DW works fine and I use it most of the time. The one thing about it is a threaded hole on the clutch for it to be used as a regular clutch, you can see it in your pic. Occasionally the cog on the drop mechanism gets caught in this causing the top cymbal not to drop. It's rare and won't happen at all really as long as you're conscious of where the hole is. The pearl has no hole to be used as a regular clutch and the drop mechanism goes straight up as opposed to 90 degrees like the DW. Really a matter of personal preference.
 
autonomos said:
I have the DW drop clutch as well as the pearl. The DW works fine and I use it most of the time. The one thing about it is a threaded hole on the clutch for it to be used as a regular clutch, you can see it in your pic. Occasionally the cog on the drop mechanism gets caught in this causing the top cymbal not to drop. It's rare and won't happen at all really as long as you're conscious of where the hole is. The pearl has no hole to be used as a regular clutch and the drop mechanism goes straight up as opposed to 90 degrees like the DW. Really a matter of personal preference.
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Thanks for the reply!

Is this the pearl drop clutch that you have?:

http://accessories.musiciansfriend.com/product/Pearl-DCL300P-Drop-Clutch?sku=448844

I was originally thinking about getting that one, but a lot of the reviews say that clamp is not very secure. This is why I started leaning toward the DW, it seemed to be more widely respected for it's performance. Any input on this?
 
That's not the one I have. Mine is similar but more primative, probably about 10 years old. If there's any doubts, go with the DW. Doubt you'll be sorry
 
Gezz that DW looks an awful lot like the Gibraltar I got my son. The only diffrenc I noticed is the Gibraltar does not have the hole to get hung up on and I think it was only about 10 or 12 bucks.
The only other thing to note would be the orientation of the leaver on the pearl. It looks to be more straight up and down where the others look easier to smack buy hand or with a stick on a down stroke.

http://www.gibraltarhardware.com/index.cfm?fa=partsmain&curcat=2&bnd=11&cid=108&sid=476&pid=1672
 
Got the clutch today. It works great.

This is common sense but if you put it too low it will re-lock itself from the hi-hat bouncing up to the little knob thing. I like my hi hats to be pretty close to each other when opened, so it is a bit of an issue for me. We'll see what happens.
 
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