stupid vh-11 motion sensor question

[shanmoon]

I finally bought a hi hat stand so I could use the VH-11 that's been sitting in my house in the box for a week.

My first thought is OMG I love this thing! There's no comparision between it and the CY-5 I was using. It really feels like a real high hat!

I have a question about the motion sensor, though...apologies if it has already been asnwered elsewhere (I did do a forum search and didn't find anything).

Is it ok for the motion sensor and cymbal to be able to "spin" on the connecting rod? I've noticed after awhle that both tend to move away from their starting position. The cymbal only rotates a bit, but the motion sensor floats 360 degrees!

Did I set something up wrong? There is nothing in the manual about either the motion sensor or cymbal rotating or how to keep it from over-rotating. Other than that everything is triggering ok. I've got it well adjusted for open/half-open/closed sound.

I'm using a Perl H-2000 hi-hat stand. Is it something about the stand that allows this rotation? At this point I am kind of wishing I had ponied up the extra $$ for a remote high hat stand. I'm kind of short (just over 5'), and even lowered down to its lowest height, its kind of hard for me to get a bow shot on the cymbal. That combined with the rotation problem is a little frustrating.

As an aside, I have a bit of a height problem with my throne, too... Even at its lowest height, my legs aren't square against the floor....I'm at a bit of an angle. I guess most drummers out there are tall guys, not puny girls, lol.

[daveybabes]

According to the Roland website spec on the VH11 it should have a cable tie included that u use to stop the spin movement.

Do u use a throne that adjusts height by turning the seat? ie threaded? those adjust down lower.

or is a model where the bolt goes through the centre with a wing nut? maybe a friend can drill an extra hole for you so it drops lower? that may work, if u removed the bolt first and see if it does drop a lot lower?

[shanmoon]

Yes, there was a cable tie. I've got it below the motion sensor holding the 2 trigger cables against the main pole on the high hat stand. I'll try tightening up a little more and maybe moving up closer to the base of the sensor.

As far as the throne goes, its a "Rok N Sok" with shock absorber.. It raises and lowers using a lever on the seat. Pull the lever and the seat fully extends. Sit on it until it lowers to the desired position and release the lever. Although it looks like the seat should be able to sink another 1 1/2 - 2 inches, I can't get it any lower. The angle of the legs can also increase and decrease uy sliding the bracket they are attached to up and down the center pole for the seat and then tightening a wing nut. I've got them lowered to the lowest possible position (a stopper on the center pole stops it form going any lower). I don't think removing the stopper would be a good idea, it is almost at the bottom of the center pole.

Thanks for offering up some advice.

[BarT]

If it's a Roc-N-Soc Nitro like mine, it should go down so that there's less than an inch of the inner pipe showing. Perhaps you need a bit more weight to compress it? Have a chunky friend bounce it down a bit! But I don't think you should worry too much about a slight leg angle. Getting the hi-hat low enough sounds like more of a problem. Do you not play with crossed arms?

Bruce

[pchanning]

Is it ok for the motion sensor and cymbal to be able to "spin" on the connecting rod? I've noticed after awhle that both tend to move away from their starting position. The cymbal only rotates a bit, but the motion sensor floats 360 degrees!

The cymbal should have the Roland stamp away from you as the trigger is better on the side facnig you. As for the motion sensor, did you put the soft felt washer on top on the hi hat base - this helped to stop mine from moving.

I'm using a Perl H-2000 hi-hat stand. Is it something about the stand that allows this rotation? At this point I am kind of wishing I had ponied up the extra $$ for a remote high hat stand. I'm kind of short (just over 5'), and even lowered down to its lowest height, its kind of hard for me to get a bow shot on the cymbal. That combined with the rotation problem is a little frustrating.

The rod in the new Pearl H-2000 stand spins the old one used to screw in and lock. I got the new one and discovered I needed some superglue. Works fine now - ****e idea if you ask me, cymbals get marked on the logos (just cant handle that LOL) and you have to break the stand to undo the rod. Pearl must of had a bad day there... anyhoo HTH

[shanmoon]

If it's a Roc-N-Soc Nitro like mine, it should go down so that there's less than an inch of the inner pipe showing. Perhaps you need a bit more weight to compress it? Have a chunky friend bounce it down a bit! But I don't think you should worry too much about a slight leg angle. Getting the hi-hat low enough sounds like more of a problem. Do you not play with crossed arms?

Bruce

Yep, sounds like you have the same one as me... it does goes down until there is about 3/4" showing on the inner pipe, so I think that is as low as it goes (I had to sit on it with my 80 # dog in my arms to get it down that far, lol! She didn't know WHAT to think of that little experiment, hehehe).

I do play with crossed arms. Maybe I just need to adapt to the fact I can't have the Vh-11 as close to my snare as I had my Cy-5. I played with it pretty close in. Still, it is a bit of a stretch for me to get more than an edge shot off the VH11. I probably developed some bad playing habits my first 6 months with the CY-5 so low and close in. Not to mention that I upgraded to a larger snare around the same time, so there is of necessity a little more distance from the hi-hat because of that too.

The spin on the motion sensor improved quite a bit once I added a second cable tie and pulled it pretty tight. I double checked the felt "sponge" under the motion sensor and it was oriented correctly, so that wasn't the issue. The extra cable tie seems to be doing the trick.

I just have to say again I LOVE THIS HI-HAT!!!! I finally get the open/half-opened/closed sounds I just couldn't get with a FD-8! HURRAY!