I just read something about good-sounding ride cymbals that sparked a question I've been meaning to ask for a while:

Anyone have any idea whether Steve has a few favorite cymbals that he farms out for the sessions he does? I swear the ride on 'In Utero' is the same one on 'Pod.'

At least, I think it's 'Pod.' It could be something else.

Out of frustration with a tinny and bright sounding 16" Zildjian Avedis medium crash, I hopped on eBay about a year ago and purchased a vintage Zildjian K 18" Dark Crash for $100. Methinks it's from the late 1970's- what a WORLD OF DIFFERENCE!!

It's a great crash, heavy, sort of dark, great decay. I go in the "cymbal room" in any new drum store and it's depressing to know that I couldn't buy anything new that comes sounding this good. I got lucky

Now, I still use the 16" Avedis, but I cringe when I hit it. I almost wish it were cracked so it would hurry up and stop ringing.

I've never used the Paistes or the Sabians so I know nothing of them.

I use 14" Zildjian Quick Beat Hi-hats and a 22" Zildjian Ping Ride. They are OK. I've heard better, but what I have is far from "bad"

mr.arrison wrote:I almost wish it were cracked so it would hurry up and stop ringing.

i love cracked cymbals. i want more. anyone need to ditch some? preferably in the philly area? will pay like, $10.

Alberto the Frog wrote:Recommendation request!

My kit is currently crash-less.

Can somebody recommend a good/cheap place to start, crash-wise?

Doesn't need to be fancy, just serviceable and not entirely horrible.

Thanks!

If you're in the UK, try an ebay search for Zyn Cymbals.

In fact, here you go:

http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/search. ... atitle=zyn

I've had a couple of Zyns. An 18" 2 Star Crash/Ride (pretty nice) and a 20" 5 Star Crash/Ride (very, very nice). I only use them occasionally now because I got some Istanbul crashes, but they are really good value for money.

trilonaut wrote:

mr.arrison wrote:I almost wish it were cracked so it would hurry up and stop ringing.

i love cracked cymbals. i want more. anyone need to ditch some? preferably in the philly area? will pay like, $10.

Come see me. Bring a truck.

Adam, I have that exact same ride cymbal! Got mine from gumtree, not such a bargain as you.. but £20 for a ride cymbal seemed good to me! it' s the only decent cymbal I have.. I've been sneakily trying the cymbals of drummers in other bands I play in and in some of practice studios here, I think I want smaller hi hats and a larger crash (i have a really cracked UFIP (i think it's 14") as my crash at the mo' and I don't dig it at all).. My kit is a tiny olympic one with a really nice 20" kick drum.. unfortunately I noticed the other day that where the leg goes in on the kick it's splitting pretty badly.. actually into the wood.. boo.. anyway. Good recommendations in this thread for crashes (bigger darker).. how about hi hat's I want something that will cut through when i'm keeping it going with my left foot, my current ones have to be really smacked to make an audible sound.

damn alberto, that score just keeps on giving. I used to have one of those 20" A rides and i loved it. To bits. Literally. I am re-seething with jealousy. I need to go stare at my kit to make myself feel better.

I'm not a drummer.

But I've always wanted to be one. Been best friends with one for more than half my life. Been sideline-obsessed with drums longer than that and I'm a passable player for sure. Plus, I'm an ass about cymbals--really picky.

Provided you're not a basher, check into chinese-made Dream cymbals. They're the equivalent of Chinese LDCs. They're modeled after old K Zildjians if I remember correctly, and every one I've heard sounds fantastic. I've played a crash, ride, and 15" hihats and all sound superb.

OK. So now I know I want a set of 14" (talked out of the 13") Ziljdian New Beat hihats, a 20" Zildjian A Ride and an 18" Zildjian A Crash.

I've been checking out Ebay, but the prices are so varied, and it's tough for me to tell why. Anything in particular I need to look for?

Thanks again. This thread has been a lot of help to me and others. Drumming has been very fun recently and I'm seeing progress (helps to start at sucking and go from there).

Hit a bunch of them and see which ones you like the sound off
best. I used to use a mixed bag of Paiste, Sabian & Zildjian that I picked up 2nd hand. I particularly loved the Sabian HH and Paiste 602s.

602s are not made anymore and are not particularly durable but sounded beautiful. I am lucky enough to have a cymbal artist deal with Sabian and I chose them out of the list of possibles because they are consistently well made cymbals and take a fair bit of punihment. They also sound awesome, in particular the Hand Hammered series.

I have a 21" Hand Hammered Vintage ride that I use as a crash on heavier gigs and as a crash/ride on less demanding shows. That paired with the 15" AA Sizzle hats are the finest cymbals I have ever owned and they will have to be prized out of my cold dead hands.

They do some discounted packs of the AA series which I have bought for one of my schools which are a good place to start when investing on a pro set of cymbals. However, the XS series aimed at the budget model are good value, the ride and hats are particularly gigable.