Alternative to Zil Bels?

[jasonarp]

The ride I have doesn't have a bell that cuts like I want, so I thought I would check out Zil Bels (a lot of my favorite drummers use them). But the cost is crazy. So does anyone know if any other companies make something similar?

Zil Bel on musicians friend-
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Zildjian-ZilBel-Cymbal?sku=440301

[ImpaledRound]

I know Meinl make bells (see the very bottom of this page http://www.meinlcymbals.com/cymbal_series/cymbals_classics.html) and being Meinl they're likely to be much cheaper than Zildjian.

Sabian do "ice bells" ?

[altered_beast]

I know Meinl make bells (see the very bottom of this page http://www.meinlcymbals.com/cymbal_series/cymbals_classics.html) and being Meinl they're likely to be much cheaper than Zildjian.

Sabian do "ice bells" ?


Yes Sabian do ice bells, but they're quite hard to get hold of and pretty expensive from what I understand - they're not part of the Sabian catalog and as such are made to order I think. That's why the only part of my cymbal setup which isn't Sabian are the bells I use.

Stagg also do an alternative but like Wuhan chinas you need to check them in person as they vary from bell to bell. Mine sounds very very shrill. They're very very cheap (mine was £25 which is like $45/ $50)

I'd like to get something darker really, all my cymbals are very dark in tone and the bells kinda stand out a bit. I might look into the Meinl bells or make some enquiries about the Sabian ones.

[jasonarp]

Wow, thanks guys, I can't believe I missed all of those!

[stixman]

Meinl classics series 8" powerful, low, high bells. Paiste sig bell, accent or the cup chime, probs not cheaper than the zildjian though, except for the accents, which are relatively cheap (might not be the sound your looking for). Sabian ice bells or maybe even the radia cup chimes?? Those are expensive though. Depends if your willing to pay the money for a quality look and sound, or go for a cheapo.

[kung_f00]

I think if you're really scant on cash, check out Stagg. They have "Black Metal" Ice Bells in various sizes. I've tried out the 7" and it had a pretty decent sound. I would probably never use a bell in my setup, but they sound pretty good and Stagg cymbals are pretty durable.

If you're an ebayer, you can find them here:
http://search.ebay.com/stagg-bell_W0QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQmaxrecordsreturnedZ300

[emmerson]

make your own, if you have a broken cymbal that isnt around the bell you can cut the bell of cymbal out and have an ice bell, it may not be perfect but its effects.

[Velimor]

Can someone tell me if there's a difference between an ice bell and just a bell?

I just bought the Stagg Black Metal ice bell a few hours ago; hopefully I get a good sounding one. I love the look of them though- like some corpse just dug up from the ground. Yeah, it was an impulse buy, but come on; I play in a black metal band and I can't resist the opportunity to add onto my kit at such a low price. Hell, I almost bought a pair of Stagg mini hi-hats at the same time, but I resisted and settled for a (less costly) 16" Stagg SH crash instead.

[gasypo]

I have an LP Ice Bell which I like a lot. I have played on a Zil-Bell at a store one and thought that the Zil-Bell rang much longer and was more piercing than the LP.

[DreamTheater4life]

Sabian 6 inch Cymbal Disc. It's not that loud but it's cool for accents and stuff.

[Drumms]

UFIP makes what I think are the best ice bells out there. Check them in their Bionic Series.

LP used to make Rancan bells, which looked like chinas. It seems that they're very high-piched.

Istanbul has a few different bells in their Alchemy series. Some are like Ice Bells, others look like very very thick 12" splash-cymbals. You can listen to some of them at: http://www.cymbalsonly.com/cymbals/agop/agop.htm (at the very bottom of the page).

Stagg's always an option, too.

[masonni]

I think just about every company has some kind of "ice bell" though it may be called something else.

I ran into the same problem. I have an Alchemy 22" RAW Ride that I LOVE, but the bell wasn't cutting enough. It didn't sound any different than playing on the bow of the cymbal. So I go a 9" Alchemy RAW Bell, and flipped it upsidown on my ride, now I have exactly what I want from my ride.