I've got a 24" ride cymbal, quite old.Its got a crack about 3" long heading towards the center.
I've drilled a hole but its carried on cracking so I was thinking of cutting a curve out of it -so it looks a bit like one of those pans used in kebab shops.

is this a good idea to stop the cracking or would it badly mess up the sound (and cymbal)

Whether you leave it alone or take more drastic measures your cymbal will never sound the same. That being said, I've prolonged the life of several cymbals over the years by shaving off the cracked portion. It will at the very least raise the pitch of the cymbal, and will likely reduce the ring. However, I've found that this can make for more interesting sound options.

Years ago I sent my cracked cymbals to a guy who professionally trimmed off the outer inch or two until the cymbal was free of an cracks, and they sounded great. I can't locate him anymore, but if you find someone who can do this it might be your best option. Made my crash sound a little like a splash, but I really didn't have much of a choice.

The last job I did myself. I kenw the cymbal was toast, so just took a pair of tin snips and trimmed off the side with the crack, then filed down the rough edges. So now it's sort of flat on one side. At the rate the crack was increasing I only had a month or so left of the cymbal, but I've been using it for months now with no problems, and an interesting sound. More of a fast crash sound with a quick decay.

I've never tried the method you describe, but I fear that cutting a curve towards the center of the cymbal might induce more crasking, but maybe someone else has tried this and will chime in. Good luck.

-sam

Thanks,

the other thought I had was to cut a keyhole shape so as to cut away the cracked edges

The best thing you can do for cracked cymbals is to buy new ones, and send them in for replacement every time they crack again. It's a pain in the ass, but at one time I was doing this consistently & it was like Christmas all the year 'round.

Then again, it also means you've got to buy new cymbals, which is not so easy to do. But I really hate the way cracked cymbals sound, & once they start cracking, they don't ever seem to sound good again.

Admittedly, I've had little experience with the drilling and carving stuff. I really think the sound dies after the cracking starts, & I'd rather find a cheap used cymbal than keep bashing at something that sounds bad.

Cracks can extend microscopically beyond where they appear to end, so if you're doing any sort of drilling or cutting around the crack, do it with plenty of extra room to ensure that you've completely cut the crack out. If you drill it, be sure to use a drill press and make the hole large enough to get to the true edge of the crack.

Good luck!

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

some of my favorite cymbals i've ever owned/played were the cracked ones. you may even get lucky and end up with a nice sounding sizzle ride sans rivets.

Give it to Pete from the Magick Markers. All his cymbals are fucked up.

The last cymbal I cracked I put upside down inside a larger China cymbal. It sounds pretty boss.

Kghsssh!

I guess that would be hard to do with a 24" ride, though.

I've had an 18" Sabian crash cymbal renewed every year for 4 or even five years for free because it was within the one year Sabian quality guarantee and the shop owner is a knockover.

I've drilled holes in cymbals too but i wasn't very pleased with the result.
It's like when you've been playing the , still intact, cymbal for some time you get so use to the way it sounds...

It looks like Sabian's cymbals are being made stronger than they used to be.
I've had my current pair (a16" and an 18" AA) for alittle more than three years now and they are still whole.

imo, if a cymbal lasts more than five years before starting to crack, it's not that big a deal to go and get a new one.

there's a band caled itch who purposely use a broken crash cymbal to get that nice clangy sound. they use it as an intro to a song.