Cymbal Help

[ladanny]

I'm looking to get either a new pair of hihats, or a ride cymbal. Actually, I'll get both at some point. Here's the problem:

I have 14" QuickBeats and sound nice and tight, heavy, etc. My ride is a +20 year old Zildjian 20" Medium that sounds GREAT for jazz with the dark tones and wash. So, my hihats and ride don't match very well in terms of brightness and weight.

Here's what I've found so far:

I really like the Zildjian K Dark 14" hihats. I want to compare them to Paiste Signature 13" Dark Crisp.

Ride cymbals so far are between A Custom 20", A Custom Ping 20", K Custom Heavy 20".

Any thought and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Danny

[beat Hit]

Danny,

Here's my thought...

Whenever I buy a cymbal, I am buying it 'cause there is a sound missing in my kit. I mean, it's already in my head so I already know what range to aim for. Then I go to my local store and bring all my cymbals with me and just try out what I think corresponds to the sound that I am hearing in my head. It's very subjective since it has to do with taste isn't it... I am very satisfied of my sound btw...

Here's a list of what I have so far:

- Ride: 22" Dark-Ride Paiste Sound Creation series
- Ride: 20" Zildjian K Custom Brilliant

- Hi-Hats: 13" Zildjian K on top with Z on bottom
- Hi-Hats: 14" Sabian HH Brilliant (thick and heavey sound)

- Splash: 12" Zildjian Brilliant

- Crash: 17" Zildjian A Custom Brilliant
- Crash: 14" Sabian AAX Studio

- China: 20" Zildjian China Boy Low sitting on top of a broken 16" Crash Paiste 2002. Very happy on the sound of this one.

What I'd like to add next would be a smaller splash, like a 8" or 10"...

Hope that this gives you ideas...

[Randy walker]

Cymbals are subject to many opinions, in Paiste I would say Sig heavy hats with a sig full ride is a good match. In Sabian, Regulat hats with a choice of many rides 1 being a dry ride or a Chester Thompson ride. But again everyone hears different tones in their head so you should just go to a store and kind of bang away until you hear something of like.
Take your favorite hihats in and find a ride and crashes that w3ill match them.

[Mark of Cenla]

Good advice so far, but also get someone else to play them, so you can stand back and listen. Happy hunting.

[ladanny]

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I ended up getting the Zildjian Custom K Dark 14" hats. They blend VERY well with my old A ride. I compared 13" K, K/Z combo, Paiste Sig. Dark 13, even Bosphorus and UFIP.

Now it's time to find a ride to match my 14" QuickBeats. So far I'm leaning towards the A Custom Ping 20", but I'm not sure how different that is from my current ride. I really liked the Ping when I tried it, but I think I want something just a little bit heavier?

Any opinions on that one?

Thanks!
Danny

[Jean-Paul]

I want to add that you shouldn't listen too long to cymbals or drums consecutively because your ears don't seem to hear the differences after a while. Besides cymbal choice depends also on the music you are playing.
That's why I have three rides but I recently use only one in particular because of the large range of tones I get from it. It is a Sabian HH 21" dry bell ride with definition and clearness but it blends and has enough "wash" I was looking for. Try more than one model of the same brand and type because that's makes a difference too. I would check out Zildjian because you have more cymbals of that brand and that can work out in your favor because of the same soundspectrum. I found my ride after playing on 5 pieces but I was lucky enough to check them out at the importer. But more often a shop has two or sometimes three pieces. Good luck, JP

[ladanny]

Thanks for all the help. I actually purahsed a new ride last night too. As I said before, I have the great jazz, washed ride down, and now need something more cutting. After testing about 20 rides, I ended up with a tried and true Zildjian A Ping 20" cymbal. I thought I was going to like the A Custom better, but for what I was looking for, that standard A fit great.

Again, thanks for all the help!

Danny