Chad Smith’s Paiste cymbal setup for 2022 revealed

Chad Smith's Paiste cymbal setup 2022
(Image credit: Paiste/Facebook)

A couple of months ago, Chad Smith announced that after 35 years, he’d be switching from Sabian to Paiste cymbals. Following the news, Paiste welcomed Chad aboard, stating that he’d be playing a mixture of Paiste 2002, Signatures and PSTX series cymbals, and now the full setup has been revealed.

Paiste has worked with Chad to create the setup which is finished in a Matte Silver Colorsound finish throughout - and also happens to match Chad’s current DW shells - with black Paiste logos on top, and the Red Hot CHili Peppers logo on the underside.

But this is Chad Smith, so it’s no surprise that you won’t find a 16” crash cymbals amongst the metal. Instead, Chad is opting for a 19” as his smallest crash (and a 24” 2002) as his biggest. Other highlights include a 20” 2002 Custom spiral cymbal, a 10” Pure Bell and 20” Swiss Medium Crash (both from the affordable PSTX range), oh, and the small matter of a a 50” Symphonic Gong because…well why the hell not?

Chad Smith’s 2022 Paiste Cymbal Setup

  • 20’’ Custom 2002 Ride Spiral Cymbal
  • 10’’ PST X Pure Bell
  • 15’’ Signature Power Hi-Hat Top / 2002 15’’ Sound Edge Bottom
  • 12’’ Signature Splash
  • 19’’ 2002 Extreme Crash
  • 24’’ 2002 Ride
  • 20’’ 2002 Extreme Crash
  • 24’’ 2002 Crash
  • 20’’ PST X Swiss Medium Crash
  • 10’’ Custom 2002 Mini China / PST X 12’’ Splash Stack Top
  • 50" Custom Symphonic Gong

For more information, check out Chad Smith's new artist page on the Paiste website.

Stuart Williams
Drums

I'm a freelance member of the MusicRadar team, specialising in drum news, interviews and reviews. I formerly edited Rhythm and Total Guitar here in the UK and have been playing drums for more than 25 years (my arms are very tired). When I'm not working on the site, I can be found on my electronic kit at home, or gigging and depping in function bands and the odd original project.