Combine Cymbal Brands like Sabian, Zildjian, Paiste, etc.?

[delta]

I don't think is too off the wall and I'm sure drummers do it, but I was curious how many on here have different cymbal brands in there kit. The drummers without endorsments of course. Maybe Zildjian hi-hats, a Sabian ride, and Paiste crashes for example to get the sounds you want? Or do you usually stick with one brand and find the sounds you want within one brand like Zildjians K, K Custom, A, ZBT, etc.?

[fijjibo]

Well, I like to stick to one brand.

Lots of people on here will disagree, as having no loyalty widens your sonic palette.

but im stubborn...

lol

[oddrax]

I have Sabian Crashes, and Zildjian Ride, the problem is not a cymbal brand, but cymbal sound, if you like the sounds of any brand you should buy it regardless the brand, the cymbal's sound and pressence is the most important thing about cymbals

[bighaibigdrums]

Nothing wrong with mixing brands. Even some of the endorsed guys do it.

[fijjibo]

Nothing wrong with mixing brands. Even some of the endorsed guys do it.

Neil peart and wuhan/zildjian for example.

[Drummer Karl]

No, I actually noticed and experienced that it is so pointless to stick to ONE cymbal brand (of course when you aren`t endorsed by one).

I have a few different brands in my set-up for example: Istanbul Turk hats and Mel Lewis ride, Zildjian K Custom Ride and Sabian HHX Evo. splash.
Like my drum teacher says: Close your eyes so that you don`t see what you play, try all the cymbals out...and take what you like most! So if you have the attitude to stick to a particular cymbal brand but you like the sound of a cymbal of another brand or line...whooo cares?? Break the attitude.

Karl

[Velimor]

Right now I have two brands on my kit- Saluda china and hats and a(god this is embarrassing) Headliner ride. It'll soon be replaced though, probably either by a UFIP or Saluda.

[Mcbrain]

Well i use Sabian for my ride and hh's.. I have Paiste crashes, Zildjian china and Wuhan china's and splashes.............






I don't think is too off the wall and I'm sure drummers do it, but I was curious how many on here have different cymbal brands in there kit. The drummers without endorsments of course. Maybe Zildjian hi-hats, a Sabian ride, and Paiste crashes for example to get the sounds you want? Or do you usually stick with one brand and find the sounds you want within one brand like Zildjians K, K Custom, A, ZBT, etc.?

[harryconway]

I've recently fallen in love with hand made Turkish cymbals. From left to right I run a 14" Ufip crash, 15" Paiste 2002 hi-hats, 16" Soultone Extreme Series crash, 20" Paiste Red Colorsound ride, 17" Zildjian A Custom crash, and a 16" Masterwork Legend Series crash. http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u162/hrconway/134-3441_IMG.jpg Then I have another 10 plates I can mix into for sonic diversity.

[Deathmetalconga]

I only play Zildjian A Customs because I like the sound and consistency of the line, but I have mixed cymbals in the past and it can provide you with new and different sounds.

I think it's odd how many, many people mix up cymbals, but it's consdered bad form to mix drums in the same way.

[Drumms]

You should never mix different brands of cymbals - they might sound good together.

I use Istanbul Agop hats, Mehmet and Sabian rides, and Stagg china, splash and crash. They mix pretty well. I like diversity in my setup. I'll probably buy Meinl crashes as well.

[drummerchick435]

There is no problem with mixing cymbals. I do stick to one brand to make my parents happy because they're paying for it! but if I had it my way I would mix.

[moe.ron]

i actually have mixed cymbals right now. although i find i like paistes the most, and i'm switching to almost all paistes, however i do love zildjian Ks

[crlujan]

Right now I've got Zildjian hi-hats, an Istanbul Mehmet ride and a Boshorus ride. So, I'm all over the place. My next cymbal will probably be another Boshorus ride though. I think I'm gonna end up going all Boshorus when the cash permits.

[jjmason777]

Check this out: I'm using a Paiste 2002 Sound edge bottom, and a Zildjian BOTTOM for a top for my hats. Both 14". This came about because my lame roadies cracked the tops of both sets of hats, so I combined the bottoms as I said above, and they sound awesome together! Then, I use a 21" Sabian Rod Morganstein Tri-top Signature ride, and 4 Zildjian crashes (2 16" and 2 18").
My drums are a mix too, but that's another story. I'll tell you if you want to know!

[maddrummr]

Neil peart and wuhan/zildjian for example.

I dont really think special effects cymbals are really cutting it here.

I think keeping too one brand while buying cymbals will help keep the sound working well. Although theres nothing wrong with mixing brands if it sounds good. Just dont show total loyalty to a brand and only buy their cymbals if you like the sound of somebody elses cymbals. I dont like that

[superbatmat]

Just hear the sound of your cymbals ! If it sound good for you it's cool ! If it is not... ... ... ... ... .. ...

[Solaris]

I use whatever sounds good. right now it's a mixture of Paiste crashes and ride, Zildjian hats, crashes/splashes and china, Sabian splash and a Bosphorus china. Really unless you're endorsed why limit yourself to what one compnay produces?

[dom]

i use whatever i like
i have saluda hats, pasite hats, sabian 21'' ride, dream 22'' ride, pasite 18'' crash, sabian 18'' crash, wuhan 18'' china and more saludas to come soon maybe some dreams.

i just hate the darn zildjians the only brand loyalty i have is not buying them (AND I DONT KNOW WHY....maybe i just dont have the cash.)

[Cmak_1]

i think that you should never have to stick to one brand you should widen you sonic palletle to encompass as many sounds as possible. personally if i get to a professional level of playing i would endorse drums, sticks, head, pedals and hardware but never cymbals because no one brand can do it all in terms of cymbals

[rockinrider]

I walked into the cymbal room, whacked a bunch of cymbals and walked out with:

Zildjian 14" hihats, Zildjian 18" A crash, Zildjian 10" splash, Zildjian 18" K dark crash, Zildjian 15" A Custom (Yes, DMC, a great sounding cymbal)
and,
Sabian 16" AA crash, Sabian 21" Dry ride.

I bought them based on the sound. No regrets!

[iamtak]

ive got a Paiste ride, zildjian crashes and sabian hats.

[hauk]

Nothing wrong with mixing (not that all the other replies haven't already told you that by now).
I use Saluda crashes and hats with a Zildjian ride.

[Mendozart]

I now use Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste. I personally like a clean cymbal with no logos anyways. I let my ears make the decisions when it comes to buying cymbals.

[Mr. Pasquini]

god, nothing matches on my kit

20" Dream Contact - Crash/Ride
16" Paiste 2002 - Crash
8" Zildjian A Custom - Splash
14" Stagg Black Metal - High Hats
12" Wuhan Lion - China

Everything meshes pretty damn well!

[Class A Drummer]

I have-

22" Zildjian A Medium Ride
16" Zildjian A Thin Crash
16" Sabian HHX Evolution Crash
14" Sabian B8 hi hats
14" Wuhan China (could be 12 inch i forget)
10" Paiste splash
Black beauty cowbell (yeah i know its not a cymbal, but i wanted to throw it in there).

[stasz]

I think it's odd how many, many people mix up cymbals, but it's consdered bad form to mix drums in the same way.

That's true, but drums mixed together ususally look bad without the same finish and hardware, and other aesthetic details. And of course sometimes the sound can be different. But occasionally these problems don't apply. I have a metal Tama snare drum with my Ludwig set, but a snare drum is supposed to sound different from other drums, and with metal, it's going to look different no matter what.

Oh yeah, as long as I'm on this thread... I use all Sabian cymbals except for a Zildjian China. I just went for what sounded good when I was at the store.

[kung_f00]

I use both Paiste and Bosphorus cymbals.. but I use them separately, People may think that's silly..but I feel that machined cymbals may mix well with other machined cymbals, but a machined cymbal does not match the sound of a handmade cymbal.

I don't knock those who mix and match, but I do my best to stay away from doing so (even though I've been guilty of it myself).

[Algo]

i want to have a kit like this

Hi Hat
Avedis New Beat 14"

Ride
Hand Hammered Raw Bell Dry Ride 21"

Crashes:
AAX Dark Crash 16"
Paiste Signature Full Crash 18"

Splashes
AAX splashes 8",10"
sabian signature max splash 9"

China/s
Oriental Trash 16" and/or HHX Chinese 18"
will it match?

now i have this
Hi Hat: Orion Solo Pro Master 14"
Crash": Orion Solo Pro Master Power Crash 16"
Ride: Orion Solo Pro Master Power Ride 20"
xD

[ECVail]

I'm all over the place too, with some emphasis on Sabian - but that seems to be changing toward Paiste (maybe):

14" Sabian HHX Groove Hats
21" Sabian Raw Bell Dry Ride
9" Istanbul Agop Splash
14" Sabian AAX Studio Crash (not in rotation currently)
15" Bosphorus Antique Med-Thin Crash
16" Sabian HHX Evolution Crash
17" Sabian AAX Studio Crash

Think I'm getting rid of the 17" Sabian AAX for a 18" Paiste Signature Full Crash though and adding a 10" Paiste Sig Splash.

[-tarek-]

I have a 19" Zildjian K Custom Hybrid China and a 6.5" Zilbell. The rest of my cymbals are all Paiste Signatures. I just don't like any other brand I've tried, nothing shimmers with the guitars the same way Paistes do, but that Zildjian China is amazing (thank you, Akira Jimbo for helping to design it) and the Zilbell is a nice little addition to any set.

I can't stand drummers who are biased against certain brands just for the name. I pick all of my cymbals by sound only, after all, that's what they're for, right?

[Fishbones]

I actually have all zildjian k customs and avedis. Not that i'm biased to one brand... far from it actually. It's just that zildjian cymbals work the best for my music. i have owned other brands with my zils, but since then ive gravitated to all zildjians just because of how well they work for me

[csnow]

I dont mix brands; I currently run all 2002 Paiste. I always wack a couple of Sabians and Zildjians when I am in a music store, but I havent found anything that blends well with the 2002 pies. I think the Paiste Twenty series would blend well with Zidjian and Sabian since they are very similar with a Turkish tone. My set includes the following 2002s:

14" Sound Edge hats
16" crash
16" thin crash
17" crash
18" crash
20" thin crash
22" heavy ride
8" splash
18" china

[mrbling]

i think its fine.
34241

hats 14" aax xcelerators
china 18" oriental china trash
crash 18" a custom 20" 2oo2 crash
ride 21" raw bell dry ride

[JesusMySavior]

The greatest way to limit yourself as a drummer musically gear-wise is to box yourself into one particular brand.

Let's say you're a Zildjian guy and you like the way an AAX Medium Crash sounds, so you figure you'll waltz to the Zildjian line and see what kind of A Custom you can find that will sound as close to it as possible. That's ignorance!

I'm primarily a Sabian guy, but I have owned paiste, meinl, and zildjian. I have two Sabian crashes, two sabian splashes, two sabian hats pairs, and a sabian ride. But I also own two zildjian crashes, a paiste set of hi hats, and a meinl crash to boot.

It really depends on what you're looking for soundwise, but please do not limit yourself to one brand. That's foolishness, even if you ARE endorsed.

[doctor_benway91]

The greatest way to limit yourself as a drummer musically gear-wise is to box yourself into one particular brand.

Let's say you're a Zildjian guy and you like the way an AAX Medium Crash sounds, so you figure you'll waltz to the Zildjian line and see what kind of A Custom you can find that will sound as close to it as possible. That's ignorance!

I'm primarily a Sabian guy, but I have owned paiste, meinl, and zildjian. I have two Sabian crashes, two sabian splashes, two sabian hats pairs, and a sabian ride. But I also own two zildjian crashes, a paiste set of hi hats, and a meinl crash to boot.

It really depends on what you're looking for soundwise, but please do not limit yourself to one brand. That's foolishness, even if you ARE endorsed.

I don't think its very foolish at all. Sure if your are too self-convinced that the brand you play is the best and wont even look at another brand then yeah. But I play all sabians, and I owned all Zildjians before that. I personally found that I was cracking and replacing my Zildjians(A customs) I found that my Sabians looked nicer, sounded nicer, and lasted longer actually I've never broken a sabian not even a B8 or solar. And sabians Xs20s sound soo good for the price and are very durable. They sound better and last much longer than the Z, Z3, ZHT, ZBT, I might get shot for this but yeah A's too. I'd choose an Xs20 over a Zidjian A anyday. I find that sabian is one of the most creative brands when i comes to cymbal designs and prototypes. So what I'm trying to say if I heard a Zildjian that I really liked I probably would try to find a Sabain like it cause odds are It would last longer. So if it is foolish to like something that you've had good experiences with better than something you've had bad experiences with then, well, call me a fool. As for Paiste I couldn't tell you, i've never really played many paistes and Im not even 100% if my local shop carries them. Well thats my 2 cents.

[pepino]

I currently have all Zildjian, but I'm planing on mix my set up (fist time) but, I can't ingnore the fact that other brands (Paiste in this case), have excepcionals pies, and somethimes the sound, size, etc, that you are looking for doesn't come in that specific brand (Zildjian in this case), so, this is the set up I'm going to get:

First, my current set up:

14" Zildjian A Custom Mastersound Hi Hats
18" Zildjian A Custom Medium Crash
21" Zildjian A Sweet Ride (Brilliant finish) THIS ONE I'LL KEEP IN MY SET UP
20" Zildjian A Medium Ride (Used as a crash)
17" Zildjian K Custom Dark China (Just cracked)
16" Paiste 502PLUS Crash

This is the set up that I'll get (the only one I'll keep in my set up is going to be de Zild. sweet ride):

15" Paiste 2oo2 Sound Edge Hi Hats
20" Paiste 2oo2 Crash
24" Paiste 2oo2 Ride
21" Zildjian A Sweet Ride (Brilliant finish) as a crash
20" Wuhan China with rivets
20" Zildjian Oriental Crash of Doom


What do you guys think

[classicstar]

Well, I like to stick to one brand.

Lots of people on here will disagree, as having no loyalty widens your sonic palette.

but im stubborn...

lol

I agree with this completely lol

[madidus]

Go with whatever gives you the sound you're after. Right now mine is:

Zildjian A Custom 14" hats
Sabian AA 16" Extra Thin and 18" Thin crashes
Sabian AA 21" Raw Bell Dry Ride
Paiste 20" Giant Beat - I'm using this as another ride option more than a crash
Paiste Signature splashes, including a 10" Dark Energy splash, which IMHO is the best splash I ever heard.

[bamdrummer]

Sound is the most important thing, brand loyalty only makes sense if your endorsed. That being said, if you look at my kit you'll find all sabians, I swear i was about to buy some 2002 sound edge hats yesterday but i found an amazing deal on the hhx evolution hats and i couldn't pass it up, they sound so perty!...But back to the question, mixing brands is fine, even endorsed drummers do it in the studio.

[ibernalq]

No problem.. for me sound rules... and sometimes money..

hihat: paiste heavy sugnatures; sabian AAX fast hats as auxiliary
ride: paiste 3000 heavy ride

crashes: sabian HHX, HH, AA
ziljian avedis (x 2)

splashes: sabian AAX, paragon, AA
murat diril (x 2)

chinas: meinl classics (x 3) plus a filter china

paiste accent cymbal

[ibernalq]

Sound is the most important thing, brand loyalty only makes sense if your endorsed. That being said, if you look at my kit you'll find all sabians, I swear i was about to buy some 2002 sound edge hats yesterday but i found an amazing deal on the hhx evolution hats and i couldn't pass it up, they sound so perty!...But back to the question, mixing brands is fine, even endorsed drummers do it in the studio.

TRUE.. I agree........

[KiiminkiJoe]

I mix different brands, different alloys, machine and hand hammered cymbals, lathed, unlathed and partly unlathed cymbals etc. I use crashes as rides and hi-hats and rides as crashes and hi-hats. Messing around with different cymbal configurations is of of funniest and most addictive thing related to drumming.

[Skulmoski]

Most people do not buy cymbals; instead, they are buying the sounds cymbals make. Therefore, focus on combining cymbal sounds irregardless of who makes them.

GJS

[diegobxr]

Well, there's not much to add really.. Mixing cymbals is great, you get a lot more possibilities than sticking to only one brand.

However, in my case, I'm a bit obsessive, and I don't like to mix them. I just can't see different brand cymbals together on a kit, as I couldn't see every tom from a different brand and a different colour. The same applies to drums, heads, hardware and cymbals. (Again, I know it's an aesthetics obsession problem, I guess I just like to see my kit as I were endorsed).

Right now I use all Zildjian cymbals. They give me the sounds that I want, and they're great, so.. we're all happy. :)

Cheers.

[random]

I've got four different brands on my set. UFIP hats, old Zildjian Avedis Crash, Sabian HH ride and a MIJ ride. They all work perfectly together.