Why do wuhan chinas crack?

lolo500

Junior Member
Hey guys, 1st post on forums.

I would like to know why wuhan crack, but no, dont say cuz they are made at China and that stuff, i've seen people that owns wuhan chinas for more then 2 years, but for others, they last months or weeks, most of the times.

It has to do with the way it is hit (obviously upside down), ive heard that they last a lot (years) if you hit then beetween the edge and the center, and they break if you hit them directly on the edge, like most of other chinas are usually hit. Can anyone confirm this?

Im asking this cuz i got a wuhan china 12'', and it took 4 months to finally have it in my hands, it was cheap, but i've waited a lot for it, since they dont arrive here where i live, so i want it to last at least a year.

Thanks in advance :)
 
Uhh..... a cymbal should never ever crack. The only reason a cymbal would crack is if you hit it too hard/in a fashion that is too extreme for the cymbal to handle/put the cymbal under stress is can not handle.


You should be able to look at the cymbal and say to yourself, "Okay, this cymbal looks like it can handle only so much intensity, so it is a good idea not go above that threshold. "

If you do that the cymbal will never break.
 
hey man,

welcome to the forums!! great to be in touch with another member from the tribe of drummers! to answer your question, wuhan chinas are a budget cymbal… no shame in that, but they're cranked out of the factory, they're cheap and easy... wham bam thank you ma'am sorta thing. as a result, they are very inconsistent in quality. sure, you may find one that lasts, but you may have to go through a few first...
 
if the cymbal is cheap it is for a reason. i have a zildjian zbt 18' china and it has lasted 3 years. you should look in to it
 
Saying that "cymbals crack" implies that it is the cymbal's fault.

Cymbals don't crack. Drummers crack cymbals.
 
if the cymbal is cheap it is for a reason. i have a zildjian zbt 18' china and it has lasted 3 years. you should look in to it

You had an 18 foot china? Freaking AWESOME!
As for the original post, I have never heard that Wuhans are known for cracking. I had am 18" Wuhan China for about 8 years. It wouldn't fit inside my Zildjian Cymbal Safe because of the way the bell (if you can call it that) is shaped so I just screw it down on the outside of the lid. I carried it from gig to gig bolted to the outside of the case for 8 years. I wasn't even particularly careful with it and it never cracked. I ended up replacing it with a 17" K China when I got my SKB cymbal case. I donated the Wuhan China to the church I play at and it's still doing just fine.
 
Wuhans certain have had a reputation for not lasting.

In part because they were never designed for drum set use. They are meant to be played by hand in pairs, similar to marching cymbals.
chinese-new-year-cymbals.jpg




But someone one day got the brilliant idea to sell them to drum set players instead of just using them in parades, which goes back to the 1920's ad 30's.

BidSidCatlettKW.jpg



As time went on, they became popular among rock and metal drummers who subject the cymbals to a style of playing they simply were never, ever designed for.
Neil Peart, in particular, made Wuhan's particularly popular in the late 70's and 80's, as did numerous other well known drummers.
But of course, top name touring drummers can afford to keep replacing them.
 
Hey guys, 1st post on forums.

I would like to know why wuhan crack, but no, dont say cuz they are made at China and that stuff, i've seen people that owns wuhan chinas for more then 2 years, but for others, they last months or weeks, most of the times.

It has to do with the way it is hit (obviously upside down), ive heard that they last a lot (years) if you hit then beetween the edge and the center, and they break if you hit them directly on the edge, like most of other chinas are usually hit. Can anyone confirm this?

Im asking this cuz i got a wuhan china 12'', and it took 4 months to finally have it in my hands, it was cheap, but i've waited a lot for it, since they dont arrive here where i live, so i want it to last at least a year.

Thanks in advance :)

If you treat the cymbal right by not beating the crap out of it, it should last a long while! ;)
 
.... it was cheap
And that is why they crack. If you're gonna lay into them (like most rock drummer do) ... expect a short lifespan with Wuhans. Sure, they're priced "right", but over time, you wind up buying 10 of 'em. I have a Zildjian china, that I played "very aggressively" for 6 years straight, and I still have it. It's now 18 years old. I have a Paiste china, that's at least 15 years old.​
 
Uhh..... a cymbal should never ever crack. The only reason a cymbal would crack is if you hit it too hard/in a fashion that is too extreme for the cymbal to handle/put the cymbal under stress is can not handle.

Sounds great in theory, but in the real world, there are inperfections in manufacturing - which is why all of the major cymbal manufacturers have a warranty.
 
I'm the opposite of everyone, I've never had a problem with a Wuhan breaking (three of them) - I break Zildjian Chinas (three of them). I play Zildjians all around, except my China - I keep it real with the Wuhan since it has never failed.

There must be some bizarre backwards world vortex in my drum room.
 
I have two China-made chinas - a 20" LP Rancan and a 14" Wuhan - and by all accounts, I do everything wrong. I tighten them way down, using cup washers to get them even tighter under the wingnuts. Then I bash the heck out of them. They are 19 and 14 years old respectively. No issues so far. I will let you know when I crack one. If the internet still exists by then.
 
Any cymbal cracks not because the way it was hit, but because of internal stressors that are intrinsic in creating different sounds with cymbals...

Whether or not cymbals break depends on whether or not you present or exacerbate the stress in a concentrated area.

The reason Wuhan's break is because they are cheaply made.. Therefore stressors are less likely to be tightly controlled.
 
ive had a wuhan 16 and 12 for about 6 years now and no cracks. stop beating the s**t out of your cymbals.
 
Back
Top