SuperUltra
Member
Hi, so first of I think it would be important to mention I play mainly metal, but sometimes jazz and more mellow music. Does anyone know some good cost effective cymbals for this? Thanks
I think recommending the Zildjian A series is a little overkill for a new drummer. Unless you want top quality right out of the gate and have the cash to burn, I would recommend something a bit underneath that line (if you want to stick with Zildjian that is).
I'm a fairly new drummer myself and I went with the Zildjian S line and highly recommend them. You can get the box set for a little under $500 and they sound pretty solid for the price. Every cheap cymbal set I've played so far do not feel like REAL cymbals and are rather unattractive sounding. The Zildjian S series feel like legit high quality cymbals while playing them and the sound is good enough to make you feel more confident in your playing. I also went out and bought the S series 10" splash to go along with them and I like it as well. I mainly play alt-rock/hard rock style and these cymbals fit pretty well for a growing drummer.
I would recommend buying a box set if you can. It saves you a lot of money if you were going to piece meal them out. For example, the Zildjian A series box set is around $800, but the hi-hats inside that box set are almost half that price on their own.
You can get the box set for a little under $500
You could get all of those for >$300 on ebay.
I bought all "vintage" Zildjian A's when I got back into drumming a little over a year and a 1/2 ago. 20" ride, 18" crash ride, 16" thin crash, and 14" New Beats. I spent about $450. Yes I looked hard and asked for deals (at eBay). But the deals are out there. I got most of it from one person. So they were more than willing to give me a deal.
I did NOT like my Mastersound S series hats. VERY BRIGHT! Quite loud. I'm not a beginner. So I had something specific in mind, basically ALL cymbals that I had owned before. The S Series would have been awesome when I started out. Anything would have been better than the Camber II pies I had to deal with for about a decade.
If you just want to buy new, ok. But it's not necessary. You can buy great cymbals used.
I think Wuhans, Xsrs, and used A's can be a good idea. If you feel ambitious, you might try a vintage Czech brand called Amati Kraslice. I have one that sounds quite nice, but I'm not 100%sure because they are obscure vintage cymbals after all.
Anyway - run, don't walk away from Zildjian Z-whatever-T's and Meinl whatever-CS's. I've heard potlids that sound better than both of them.