Meinl Fat Stack - Matt Garstka

This stack is expensive, but it is worth every cent and, as a matter of fact, the buyer ends up with three amazing cymbals by the price of one. The stack, created by Matt Garstka (Animals As Leaders) for the Artist Concept Series, can be described as a perforated 18 inch Meinl Byzance Extra Dry Crash above a perforated 16 inch Meinl Byzance Extra Dry China ? however there are some differences, besides the holes, to their non-perforated counterparts: they look more flexible and the hammering patterns are different.
When stacked, these cymbals produce a earthy, trashy, dark, rich and dry noise. It?s a loud and powerful stack, without being aggressive or annoying, and it is very sensitive to the tension of the cymbal mate, meaning that one can extract a wide range of sounds, by loosening or tightening it.
That would be good enough, but it happens that both elements of the stack are great cymbals by themselves and none of them is available separately ? they were made exclusively for this stack. The 18 inch perforated Crash (top) has a very dark and ominous sound and the 16 inch perforated China (bottom) is the best China I ever heard, very dry and rich and not clangy at all. They are so great when used separately that one feels tempted to buy a second Fat Stack ? one to be used as a stack, the other to be split into a crash and a a china.

The MEINL Matt Gartska AC-FAT is an awesome effect cymbal that instantly adds a tight, modern accent to my playing. It has a fast, trashy attack with a quick, controlled decay, so it cuts through without turning into a big wash, and it sits really well next to my main crashes and hats. It records great, feels solid, and works for everything from quick groove accents to sharper punctuation in fills. If you want a unique, mix-friendly “trash/stack-like” voice that’s musical and usable, this is an easy 5-star pick.