are all these "Cymbal Packs" really a good deal?

Drum Guy

Member
Just bought a NEW Sabian HHX Evolution 5-Cymbal Pack - arrive this week - $615 plus tax...seems to save hundreds(?) over buying separately.

So are these b-stocks or second rate versions that manufacturers throw together, or somehow inferior to buying separate cymbals? Cant believe how much different the price is - like getting 5 for price of 2 really.
 
If I knew where you picked that cymbal pack up for $600 I would find a way to sneak it into my house....

Absolutely nothing wrong with those packs. I picked up a Zildjian A lack about two years ago for under $600. It was a great deal and every cymbal was brand new.
 
As long as the pack has cymbals you want then its excellent value. I’d like the Zildjian pack with the Sweet Ride and New Beats, but it has two medium thin crashes, which I find too heavy and harsh.
 
Was way less to buy an Evo cymbal pack than same cymbals used and you get no warranty.
 
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all this is good news then, but I wonder how they sell for so cheap, or is the right question, why are individual cymbals SO expensive?
 
Well .... sounds like a great deal. Sabian HHX Evo 5 pack I just looked at (14" hats, 16" crash, 20" ride, 18" Ozone) is $743 at M.F. ..... now, you might have got a different 5 pack, but even so .....

Packs cost less because the handling involved is so much less. If your pack was handled by 20 people (or handled 20 times) before it got into your hands, then as "individual" cymbals, taking the same route, they get handled a minimum of 100 times.

So if you're happy with the sizes (and most packs contain all the same series of cymbals) .... then it's a win for you.

Right now, I'm playing Sabian 18" HH Sick Hats, 22" AA Apollo ride, 18" XSR Monarch crash, 18" HH King Crash, and two 16" HHX X-plosion crashes ..... so for me, the pre-packaged cymbal pack isn't gonna work. But I do buy everything used, so it's way cheaper than full pop.
 
This is a complete guess, but I'd imagine that when you're getting into the pro line cymbals, the manufacturers bank on people being picky enough to select cymbals from different lines for specific sounds. (e.g. you might like a HHX crash, but prefer an AAX ride, or whatever). So people will still buy the cymbals individually, and the manufacturers can charge accordingly. So it's less a question of the cheapness of a cymbal pack (since they know that won't be the ideal option for everybody) and more about what they can charge for the individual cymbals.
 
I do think that some of the sonically challenged make it into the cymbal packs. That being said, they're still a great deal and a bad sounding A, K or HHX still sounds better than any ZBT.
 
Guessing they stock the packs later in the fiscal year when the see what they made a few too many of. Since NAMM is 3.something months away, this should be the ideal time to pick up some deals.
 
$615? How'd you find them that cheap? That's a steal!

Yes please! Let us know where you got these. The going price for similar packs are $900 and above. I saw a used set from Sam Ash going around $680?
 
Well .... sounds like a great deal. Sabian HHX Evo 5 pack I just looked at (14" hats, 16" crash, 20" ride, 18" Ozone) is $743 at M.F. ..... now, you might have got a different 5 pack, but even so .....


You got it right Harry...that's what I bought and where I got it...only thing is I called them and showed them that I buy from them at least 3 times a month :) for the past 6 months so they tried to get me a good deal, because I asked and reminded them I buy tons of stuff monthly from them. With tax I paid $663, "free" shipping - this set is listed for $743 on most sites, including theirs

thanks for all the replies - very hepful and reassuring.
 
I always thought cymbal packs were the place where borderline rejects went.
 
I always thought cymbal packs were the place where borderline rejects went.
I love my rejects. The ones I’ve been tripping over are the ones I’ve purchased online and tried to fit in with the others. Too high/low, tonally too different, etc. places like mycymbal.com can eliminate that, but no luck otherwise and with near zero selections all around me, I’ve had too many disappointments. Give me the pack of rejects any day!
 
You got it right Harry...that's what I bought and where I got it...only thing is I called them and showed them that I buy from them at least 3 times a month :) for the past 6 months so they tried to get me a good deal, because I asked and reminded them I buy tons of stuff monthly from them. With tax I paid $663, "free" shipping - this set is listed for $743 on most sites, including theirs

thanks for all the replies - very hepful and reassuring.
And ..... now explaining the back story to the price ..... we're getting close to what those cymbals actually "cost" the retailer. I doubt they sold you the cymbals below cost, you got something like 17% off.

I don't buy into this conspiracy theory that pack cymbals are defects/b-stock/seconds. Enjoy your new Sabians !!!
 
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