Zildjian 14" A New Beat Hi-Hats: the medium/heavy standard since the 1960s
Zildjian A New Beat 14-inch Hi-Hat cymbals (A0133). Louie Bellson's medium-top, heavy-bottom design, in continuous production since 1970. The reference hi-hat pairing across rock, jazz, funk, and session drumming for over five decades.
Reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Zildjian's 14" A New Beat Hi-Hats (A0133) pair a medium-weight top over a heavy bottom, the formula Louie Bellson recommended to Zildjian in 1965 and that became a dedicated pair by 1967-68. Independent measurements across dozens of real pairs put the top-to-bottom weight ratio closer to 71% than the oft-quoted 2:3 (67%) textbook figure. Rated 5.0/5 across Zildjian's own verified customer reviews; in continuous production since 1970.
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What this hi-hat pair is
Zildjian's 14" A New Beat Hi-Hats (A0133) pair a medium-weight top cymbal over a heavy-weight bottom, the mismatched-weight formula that's been Zildjian's best-selling hi-hat design since the late 1960s. Zildjian's own product page calls them "the HiHats that changed it all," and five-plus decades of continuous production back that claim up.
The idea came from Louie Bellson, the big-band and jazz drummer who worked with Zildjian on it starting in 1965.
The New Beat concept actually started with the suggestion from the great drumming artist and Zildjian endorser, Louie Bellson in 1965. He recommended the use of a heavier bottom cymbal than what was commonly used up to that point in time. This went on for a couple of years until a dedicated New Beat Hihat pairing was established in 1967-68 using a medium weighted top cymbal to go against the New Beat bottom. It was then that the classic New Beat Hihats were born. Since then, they have remained our most popular hihat creations.
Company reply to a collector's dating research
Zildjian's own dating traces the bottom cymbal alone to 1963; "New Beat," Bellson's own coinage, originally named just that piece. A cymbal-dating research archive's physical-evidence review corroborates the 1963 bottom date and places the packaged pair reaching the market by 1970, broadly in line with Zildjian's own account above of a dedicated pairing established in 1967-68.
The real weight ratio (not just the spec sheet number)
The commonly cited shorthand for the New Beat formula is a clean 2:3 ratio: the top cymbal at roughly 67% of the bottom's weight. Real-world pairs run heavier on that ratio than the textbook math suggests.
A cymbal-dating research archive that has individually weighed 52 real-world New Beat pairs puts the average top-to-bottom ratio at 71%, with individual pairs ranging from 60% to 80%. A separate community-maintained weight database logging 28-30 individual 14" pairs across multiple decades puts the overall median at 1,007 grams on top and 1,406 grams on the bottom, a 72% ratio, corroborating the same finding independently. Both top and bottom weights have also crept up decade over decade since the 1960s, before a 2013 factory revision reset the tops back toward their original 1960s-70s weight.
None of this changes how the cymbals play. It does mean two "New Beat" pairs bought a decade apart can weigh noticeably differently, worth knowing if you're chasing a specific vintage sound by serial number rather than just buying new off the shelf.
Anatomy
- Model
- Zildjian A New Beat 14" Hi-Hats
- Catalog #
- A0133
- Sizes offered
- 12", 13", 14", 15" (also sold as top or bottom only)
- Weight pairing
- Medium top, heavy bottom
- Median weight, 14"
- Top approx. 1,007 g / bottom approx. 1,406 g (all-era logged median, n=28-30 pairs)
- Top:bottom ratio
- Approx. 71% measured average (commonly cited shorthand is 2:3, 67%)
- Alloy
- B20 bronze (80% copper, 20% tin)
- Finish
- Natural (traditional A Zildjian finish)
- Hammering
- Symmetrical machine hammering, traditional wide-groove lathing
- Designed with
- Louie Bellson, 1965 concept; dedicated pair since 1967-68
- Made in
- Norwell, Massachusetts, USA
- In production
- Continuously since 1970
New Beat vs. Quick Beat vs. K Custom Session
All three pair a lighter top against a heavier bottom. The bottom cymbal's own design is what actually separates them.
| A New Beat (A0133) | A Quick Beat | K Custom Session | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top weight | Medium | Medium | Medium, 13 15/16" undersized |
| Bottom weight | Heavy, traditional wide groove | Heavy, 4 extra suction-relief holes | Medium-thin |
| Finish | Natural | Natural | Brilliant |
| Designed around | Louie Bellson's 1965 concept | A snappier update to New Beat | Steve Gadd's personal pair |
| Character | Full, versatile, all-purpose chick | Faster-opening, snappier action | Controlled, close-mic'd studio tone |
| Best for | The default choice, any genre | Fast stick work, funk and fusion | Session recording, low-volume control |
If you only ever buy one pair of hi-hats, New Beat is still the right default. The other two are refinements for a specific job, snappier response or tighter studio control, that most drummers don't need until they already know they need it.
What they sound like, and who they're for
Reviewers consistently describe the same thing: a hi-hat that doesn't specialize. Independent reviewer Diego Cardini describes the sound as balanced and musical, with a tight, responsive chick and clear stick definition that blends into a mix rather than fighting it.
For this we swap over to the pair of 14" New Beat hi-hats which applies a complementary level of volume while helping to smoothly cement the groove.
Reviewing the New Beat pair live against a jazz and funk instrumental set
Best fits: rock, pop, funk, and session drumming where one pair needs to cover a whole set list. Live rooms that need the hi-hat to project past a full band. Any drummer building a first serious cymbal setup who wants one pair that won't sound wrong in any genre they're asked to play.
Worst for
Traditional dry jazz, where a darker, thinner pair (K Constantinople or HH Vintage) sits better under brushes and light stick work. Close-mic'd studio sessions that want maximum control over bleed and overtones: that's the exact gap the K Custom Session Hi-Hats were built to fill. Reviewer Diego Cardini's stated con still holds true here too: New Beat is "not as bright or aggressive as cymbals made for cutting through very loud mixes," so drummers chasing maximum cut in a high-gain metal mix often reach for a brighter, thinner alternative instead.
Verdict
New Beat earns its reputation as one of the most versatile hi-hats in Zildjian's catalog honestly. It's been Zildjian's best-selling hi-hat pairing for over fifty years, it carries a 5.0/5 average across all 8 of Zildjian's own verified customer reviews (a small sample, but a unanimous one), and it's one of the only cymbals in the catalog that shows up equally often on jazz, funk, rock, and pop gear lists. It won't be the last word in studio control (that's the K Custom Session) or in vintage-dry jazz tone (that's K Constantinople), but as a single do-everything pair, nothing else in Zildjian's lineup covers as much ground.
Way back in 1982, I bought two of what were considered to be the finest cymbals in the world: the A Zildjian Medium ride and the 14" New Beat Hi hats. I still have and use them both today... sensitive enough for light jazz, but... loud and powerful enough for hard rock and heavy metal, and their durability is also impressive because with Marshalls and Ampegs on either side of me, I hit them HARD. And they're up to the task.
Verified customer review, lightly condensed
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