Cymbal advice needed
So, my lad plays a Pearl VBX kit which sounds great, but he's using Paiste 101s which clearly don't (like tin tea trays). He's into 70s and 80s rock - Kiss, Motley Crue, GnR etc. As I know nothing about drumming could someone recommend some cymbals to do the kit some justice?
Cheers
I can. However... usual question. Budget?Originally Posted by daveyh
At this point we don't have oneI'm looking to see what sort of budget we might need to set to get something worthwhile, something appropriate to his kit quality wise.
Whilst you can cover up the flaws in a cheap kit with buying decent heads, there isn't much you can do with cheap cymbals.
Having said that, if you're happy to spend a day or two selecting cymbals, then Stagg is surprisingly good value for money. Be warned though - you have to play a lot of rubbish ones before you get to the ones that sound OK, and it's possible to go through the whole shops stock before you get something that's great. Try to avoid buying them on the internet or via mail order as you simply will not know what you're getting.
I personally like Zildjians, but again, you have to try out a bunch of similar cymbals to get to the ones that you like the best (and this is all really really subjective). Zildjians will err on the side of horrifically expensive though.
Totally agreed on this, with the caveat that if you can pick up an SH or DH secondhand via eBay on the cheap (talking around £20 (SH) - £30 (DH) for a crash, maybe up to double that for a ride) it CAN be worth taking a chance on as you can probably sell them on without making a loss - I built up a very nice-sounding 'spare' cymbal set (hats/crash/ride) for less than a ton that way. Took a bit of time, but worth it.
Beyond that...personally I like Paiste PST5s as a nice mid-range cymbal (NOT the PST3s, never has there been a bigger gap in quality between adjacent cymbal ranges), Zildjian...don't touch ZBTs with a bargepole IME (particularly the silver-coloured ones, forget the model now but they're dreadful), as JK says good Zildjians tend to cost. The other 'big 3' player, Sabian, I've not much experience of - their B8s I've played sounded better to me than ZBTs, but that's not saying much. Had a few of their 'FX' cymbals over the years, which were fun for what they were, but...
There's been a bit of a buzz the last few years around Dream cymbals, and from what I've heard of 'em they deserve it - don't crop up much secondhand though, and with the value of the pound atm they're not as cheap as they used to be.
One word of advice is to buy used.
I saved a bunch buying this way (including a really nice Zildjian crash from Jazzy).
Thanks guys, the advice is *much* appreciated. I was looking at a ZBT pack today that came with a free crash, perhaps not such a good deal then!
Interestingly, it's not the first time someones suggested the PST5s to me, I'll check 'em out.
Stay well away from ZBT's and really I wouldn't look at cymbal packs at all.
Everyone is wrong. What you want are some Meinl cymbals.
Hows that working out for you mate?
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