Cymbal Confession Time.

D

Drumolator

Platinum Member
I admit that I thought I would stay with the small (15" and 17") crashes, but I did not. After much prayer and meditation, I went with big AAX's.

20" AAX Dry Ride
19" AAX X-plosion Crash
17" AAX X-plosion Crash
14" SR2 Hats (medium top, heavy bottom)

Peace and goodwill.
 
Nothing wrong with that. Your volume/tone needs have to dictate your dimension choices. Never apologize for a change of heart that leads to improvements.

My crash setup consists of a 16", a 17", and an 18", all thin. I have no need to go smaller than 16" or larger than 18". I've always thought 17" to be the most versatile size. There's no setting in which it won't work.
 
Amen brother!
I am after a pair of 15 or 16 hi hats and a 22 medium weight crash for large bright sound without hard hitting.

For my vistalite kit my cymbal set up is as follows:
14 AAX accelerator hi hats
18 AAXplosion fast crash Left
20 AAXplosion crash Top left
21 HH vintage ride as my crash ride right
20 AAX metal ride top right

The crashes blend in all too well with warm low pitch and sensitive response, as they are thin or in my 18 case extra thin profiles.

I have 16 AA thin crash and 16 AAXplosion crash that are too low volume for my vistalite, for my Pearls when they come in for sure.
 
Last edited:
Drumolator said:
I admit that I thought I would stay with the small (15" and 17") crashes, but I did not. After much prayer and meditation, I went with big AAX's.

20" AAX Dry Ride
19" AAX X-plosion Crash
17" AAX X-plosion Crash
14" SR2 Hats (medium top, heavy bottom)

Peace and goodwill.
Click to expand...

Those will be great - congrats!
 
I used to gig with 15” and 17” crashes but just found they did not cut enough on louder gigs.
I find crashes 16” and smaller to sound like big splashes . I use a pair of 18” crashes ( different weights ) or an 18” and 19” crashes paired up nowadays .
 
I have always heard the "mantra" for crashes is : small in the studio, big on stage

so I own an array of all sizes, but always stick with 20" rides for some reason....
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
I have always heard the "mantra" for crashes is : small in the studio, big on stage

so I own an array of all sizes, but always stick with 20" rides for some reason....
Click to expand...

I feel the same way about rides. I love 20" rides. It seems like a ride at 22" and larger does not get going fast enough for me. I have a 22" ride that sounds nice once it gets going. But after I hit it I have to wait two or three seconds before it starts to sound nice.

.
 
Hollywood Jim said:
I feel the same way about rides. I love 20" rides. It seems like a ride at 22" and larger does not get going fast enough for me. I have a 22" ride that sounds nice once it gets going. But after I hit it I have to wait two or three seconds before it starts to sound nice.

.
Click to expand...

I use a 22" K Ride in my cowpunk/rockabilly band. I have owned the cymbal since the early 90's, and this is the first situation where I like it. It fits in with all the stuff we do...not too dark, just enough ping, with a good medium pitched wash. We rarely play mic'd, so it sits right in the acoustic mix well out front.
 
My cymbal setup: L to R All sabian stuff
14" AAX medium hats
18" AAX thin crash
21" AAX medium ride
18" AA raw bell crash
16" AAX thin crash

the 21" AA raw bell dry ride and 19" AAX xplosion fast crash are next on my list
 
I was a small crash guy when I started, you want everything to sound like it does on your favourite records. I used 14/15/16

I quickly realised it sounds nice two feet from your head but gets lost before the audience hears anything. They're nice for a quick fast get out of the way crash but they're not versatile at all. Bigger crashes give you way more sounds.

I use K Dark Thin 19" and 20" Crashes, K Light 15 Hats and a 22" A Medium Ride
 
I just sold a 16, because it kept getting lost. Sounded great to me, but overhead mics just didn't pick it up the way they did the others.
Currently have a 17, 18 and 19" HHX Evolution crashes. When the L80s aren't on the stand, the 17 and 19" Evos go on. I like the 18 just fine, but nicer separation between the 17 and 19. I've stayed with 14" hats and 21" ride. I tried the larger ones, but the tone of those are exactly where I like them, so haven't fully transitioned to larger cymbals.
 
mikyok said:
...I use K Dark Thin 19" and 20" Crashes, K Light 15 Hats and a 22" A Medium Ride
Click to expand...

that is a sweet set up!!

I have a K Dark Thin 19" that I love. It is on my rock/metal set now...
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
that is a sweet set up!!

I have a K Dark Thin 19" that I love. It is on my rock/metal set now...
Click to expand...

Cheers man, only just got the 20 k as an Xmas present from me to me. Just playing it in at the moment.

It's a cover all bases set up.

K's are great for anything!
 
Update: I took the AAX Dry Ride and the 19" crash to church. I brought home the HHX 20" Evolution Ride, which is very crashable. I may want to buy another 18" or 19" crash in the future.

At church there are these Sabians: 20" AAX Dry Ride, 15" Thin SR2, 17" AA Medium-Thin Crash, 19" AAX X-plosion Crash, and a 10" SR2 Thin Splash (also Paiste 13" Alpha Hats). I played this combo last night and really enjoyed it.

I have these: 20" Evolution Ride, 17" AAX X-plosion Crash, and 14" SR2 Hats (medium top, heavy bottom).

Peace and goodwill.
 
C.M. Jones said:
Nothing wrong with that. Your volume/tone needs have to dictate your dimension choices. Never apologize for a change of heart that leads to improvements.

My crash setup consists of a 16", a 17", and an 18", all thin. I have no need to go smaller than 16" or larger than 18". I've always thought 17" to be the most versatile size. There's no setting in which it won't work.
Click to expand...

Same here
 
Another update: I took the AAX 17" X-plosion Crash to church and brought home the AA 17" Medium-Thin Crash, which is very low pitched for a 17". So I will play with a crash-ride, hats, and a crash for a while. Peace and goodwill.
 
mikyok said:
Cheers man, only just got the 20 k as an Xmas present from me to me. Just playing it in at the moment.

It's a cover all bases set up.

K's are great for anything!
Click to expand...

yep...i will never forget the gigs back in the 90's when I would show up with my crossover/thrash band, and start setting up K's...the drummers were like "dude, those aren't metal cymbals"....and then I would play them. Different attitudes afterwards many of the times...
 
Xstr8edgtnrdrmrX said:
yep...i will never forget the gigs back in the 90's when I would show up with my crossover/thrash band, and start setting up K's...the drummers were like "dude, those aren't metal cymbals"....and then I would play them. Different attitudes afterwards many of the times...
Click to expand...

I love those guys, I had a mate who said Ks break too easily. In other words he couldn't hit a cymbal properly so it's the cymbals fault!

I'm loving the Sabian HHX Complex Range, this vid is scarily close to my cymbal sound.

 
I'm in the 'bigger is better' camp too. My smallest crash is a 17'. Usual array is 17-18-19-20 with a 24" ride.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top