Anyone had custom Sabians made

I discovered the Sabian custom shop from this thread & been playing w/ the configurator ever since.

It seems like there would be more custom made cymbals in the wild (though they are pretty spendy) & i'm curious to check out videos & audio of different choices. But, they're kinda few-ish

anyone here had custom sabians made?
 
Never have done that and don't remember seeing posts about this either.
Was playing with configurator and the only think i want isn't an option haha (reverse bell china)
 
they call that the zen china. it's not on the config but, i plan on asking about it

I know that one. When Terry Bozzio switched from Paiste to Sabian they made him an Radia Reverse Bell China too, so the knowledge has been with Sabian since then ;)
Preferably i would love an 20" HH Thin Reverse Bell China, medium and raw bell, pinpoint lathing and natural finish. But since that's not an option I've described it :p
 
I had a few custom Sabians made years before they offered the online custom configurator and officially labeled the service as Custom Shop. Sabian has AFAIK offered custom jobs forever. The online tool makes it easier to understand the various components and effects they have on the cymbal sound but in general I feel is easy to get carried away.

You can still go through Customer Service and further describe your dream cymbal if the online tool doesn't have an option for it. They will straight up tell you if your request can be made or not.

All in all a very nice service offered for the "common person" that other manufacturers don't really do!
 
All in all a very nice service offered for the "common person" that other manufacturers don't really do!

right? I've been a K "custom" player for 10+ years & this custom shop thing has won me over

it's just a lot of fun running different ideas through the config & i'm looking forward to doing something unique ~if only i can make up my mind
 
They may not be more popular than they are because you can't hear the cymbal first. Other than stick a piece of tape on it, there's not a lot you can do to alter the sound of a cymbal. I choose by sound rather than "features," so I would never buy a cymbal without hearing it first. I suspect most drummers are the same.
 
no doubt. i've been scouring the web for cymbals with some of the features i'm interested in. of course, they'll sound different in person ~to where some won't go off a recording but only buy what they can play & hear in front of them.

i've had pretty good luck w/ sight unseen. & i've found some duds. my current ride is a K custom i picked out of the inventory at guitar center. i played every ride in the store & am still pretty happy with this one. That's where i get kinda hesitant myself. historically for me, ride cymbals & hi-hats have always had to be picked out in person. i don't mind taking a chance on a crash. effect cymbals are going to be along the ride/hi-hat line though

i still plan on taking the chances here.
 
that's something i'm wondering too. the configurator gives the price based on size ~as if a heavily modified artisan hammered cymbal of the same size as a moderately modified AA would be the same price?

i'm not angry, i thought it was funnier that way
 
I had a few things made from the Sabian Custom Shop. One was a 19" HH Glass Crash in a brilliant finish. The other was a 22" AA/HH Hybrid Medium Ride in natural finish. Both cymbals turned out amazing and I am hoping Sabian can bring back the Custom Shop along with the refresh program next year.
 
I've been largely absent for various reasons. But, I thought I'd check my sabian thread & realized I didn't share but the one picture. Sorry guys.

Here's the 14" splash I ordered. I wanted to see what the custom shop produced & was super happy with this one.

custom sabian splash.jpg


After that, I ordered this 22" ride.
custom sabian ride.jpg

Odd I'm thinking now that the one pic I did share was the most recent cymbal a 20" china -which I chose a zen style bell.
These cymbals are truly works of art & one of a kind. I'm super hoping they resume the program. As I struggle with the mismatch of running my Ks as crashes (wonderful though they are)

I've wanted to have hi-hats done but, meanwhile I tried the 15" byzance foundry reserve. they fit in pretty good with the custom shop sabians. So much so that I could probably justify not having hats done. But, IDK I still want to apply this "formula" to a set of hats too
 
I have never had Sabian make anything. But, in 2008, I acquired a set of Sabian 14" hi-hats that were labeled "Prototype" from Donn Bennett. Donn had found a set of Buddy Rich's cymbals, which he sent to Lenny DiMuzio at Sabian to analyze. After it was determined that the cymbals had been made for Buddy, Sabian produced a limited quantity of the ride, crashes, and hi-hats. I did not get the entire set (wish I had).

By the way, the hats are incredible!!
 
idk, I looked at the Thomas Lang super stack & not seeing the similarity. I mean, I get that they are trash/effect and have holes but that applies to many
True. It was just what I first thought of when I saw it.
 
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