A Love/Hate/Love/ Cymbal story....

ambientgreg

Senior Member
Here's the scenario:
1. Play a cymbal in-store. Love it. Buy it.
2. At the gig or home sounds like poo. Thinking it's just the room, you gig it some more and still hate it,but by this time, cannot return it,so you sadly shove it in a closet for weeks/months.
3. Pull it out at random later and hit it and cannot beleive it's the same cymbal.
4. on the gig it now sounds like it did when you fell in love with it at the store.

That cymbal btw was a 17" K custom dark crash, and is now one of my favorite cymbals.

Has anyone else ever had this bizarre experience?
 
I bought one a few months ago that was "ok" in the store, hate it at home. Still waiting for the love part to kick in. I doubt it will.
 
That's been the story of my life right there. Lots of love/hate/love/hate/love... keep / sell?? Arrrgh!

That's one of the best arguments for getting cymbals off of ebay. Decide you don't like it? Fine, flip it for another one and sometimes make money on the deal.
 
I have had a 17" K dark crash for 2 years and in no way could ever imagine not liking it... maybe not loud enough for some of our heavier material but come on, the sound is butter man...and I'm a Paiste guy (that is now buying lots of K's and AAX's here lately) now my 22" K custom thin dry complex is a strange pie ,..one day I'm ready to take it back (got about 2-3 weeks left to decide) and the next day I can't imagine not having it......so guess I can relate...just not the dark crash.....This is just as good of an agrument for buying new or used at Sam Ash...if you dont like it take it back with-in 45 days and get full exchange...cant lose money ..no ebay fees.. and the used ones are competitive with ebay pricing..and best of all you can test it before you buy!
 
I bought one a few months ago that was "ok" in the store, hate it at home. Still waiting for the love part to kick in. I doubt it will.

I just recently bought 2 more because they were at good prices. The irst time I played'em in the store I thought they were "eh". But then I thought about this love hate syndrome I go through and decided to go back and hit'em again a few days later. Sure enough, they both sounded a "little" better so I decided to lay them away, and I can always flip them if they don't work out. All cymbals don't go through this with me but many do and it drives me nuts.
 
Funnier thing, ambientgreg said he kept the cymbal beyond the return date. Imagine if you were growing up in the 70s and 80s when music stores basically didn't have a return policy. I've seen alot of angry musicians in my day stuck with stuff they discovered didn't work out. At least these days Guitar Center and Sam Ash give you 30 days to try it out, eh?
 
I was joking. Wouldn't that be funny? Go to a shop and a play cymbals declaring one the worst you've ever heard. And then asking if they accept CASH. Take it home, and you love it!

I bought a kit used once that came with a pair of 12" Paiste Sound Formula Frankenstein
logo hats. I thought they were funny, being so small, and took them to the gig that night as
a joke. Classic rock gig,mind you and I was unmiced. I could not believe how good those hats sounded. I played them exclusively for another 4 yrs.
 
Funnier thing, ambientgreg said he kept the cymbal beyond the return date. Imagine if you were growing up in the 70s and 80s when music stores basically didn't have a return policy. I've seen alot of angry musicians in my day stuck with stuff they discovered didn't work out. At least these days Guitar Center and Sam Ash give you 30 days to try it out, eh?

not a Music Store, but Home Depot actually has a No Hassel Return Policy...even if you used the item, you can return it....often without receipt. i can´t get used to that. i think God would get me if i used an item and then returned it for refund.
 
Would like to think that my two special K cymbals`s will always be loved and treasured, never hated!!
As they were bought with a lot of love.

Just to clarify: No cymbal that ever survived a few gigs ended up with me not liking it. So I'm sure your special K's are safe. I on the other hand, am currently trying to decide if a certain
K med. dark ride and two other snares are keepers or not. And on it goes..
 
I always buy cymbals only after trying them out and comparing them to ones I already own. I then take the new cymbal (s) home and record them, if there is something I don't like about their sound, I'll return them. I love the sounds of my K Custom Dark crashes, especially the 17".

Dennis
 
The answer to these problems is easily fixed. Simply buy either Istanbul Mehmet or Istanbul Agop cymbals.

Problem solved.

This is a nice cymbal. Actually its gorgeous!

K.jpg


As is this.

IMGP5322.jpg


But they cannot compete with this.

utf-8BSU1HMDA0MDYtMjAxMDEyMDUtMTQwMy5qcGc.jpg
 
Funny, I was just thinking about starting this same thread. Sometimes my cymbals sound great and the next time they sound awful. :-{ I just bought a crash on e-bay and when I first got it I thought "what a great cymbal". Now not so much. Haven't giged with it yet. I guess I'll switch it out with my others. Wish I still had my Dream Bliss.:-( BTW Zildjank, did your cymbals come in a cereal box? :)
 
I think Audiotech made a good point about recording them. There have been many a cymbal
I thought had to go and years after I sold them heard them recorded and could've kicked myself for letting them go....and we're talkin K's, sigs, Istanbuls, A custom, and like that...not the cheesey stuff. I just EXPECT that if I play it instore and dig it, It should sound and feel that good every time,every room, every gig,and I'm honestly just learning these last few years of my 30+ behind this instrument that it ain't always the case. But to shove it into a closet for 2 years and have it come out a dream cymbal is a very cool mystery to me.
 
man
i own this gorgeous k custom dry 16" crash, which at some point of my life i hated...
now i love it, i found the ideal use of it
 
I have a love/hate/hate/hate/hate/hate/hate relationship with Wuhans.

I had an 18" wuhan china about a decade ago that was the best sounding china I have ever heard. I loved that cymbal. One night I dropped the damn thing out of the back of my truck and cracked it. Since then I have had 5 different Wuhans that I thought were close in the store only to get home and find them lacking.

I know that the mate to my perfect china is out there somewhere. It is my mission in life to find it.
 
I have a love/hate/hate/hate/hate/hate/hate relationship with Wuhans.

I had an 18" wuhan china about a decade ago that was the best sounding china I have ever heard. I loved that cymbal. One night I dropped the damn thing out of the back of my truck and cracked it. Since then I have had 5 different Wuhans that I thought were close in the store only to get home and find them lacking.

I know that the mate to my perfect china is out there somewhere. It is my mission in life to find it.

I have a similar thing with New Beat hihats. Every pair I EVER played in a store were thick clanky,nasty things. Then I'd sit behind a house kit somewhere or some gig where drums were provided, and I'd be in supernatural love with the hihats,ya know? And they'd be new beats! So then everytime I saw new beats in a store,I'd play'em and.....you guessed it...nasty, clanky. Then I began paying closer attention to thickness and reading about how older pre-beatles zildjians were thinner etc., So now, I've began to search again and I'm getting closer because I know what to look for in a cymbal.

So to be honest part of the issue with me is that I've spent the majority of my drumming years practicing and playing, and have just in the last 5 years or so began to learn more about cymbals,tuning, drum sizes and wood etc.,
 
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