Saluda durability?

sXeDanimalsXe

Senior Member
Hello all. I know there have been several threads on Saluda. Infact I stayed up much of the night in between calls reading them.
Alas a question that escaped discussion in much detail was the durability.
I haven't really found anyone to say a bad thing about the cymbals and this has me very interested. I have been a pretty loyal Sabian player for much of my 15 years of drumming. I normally play AAX and AA heavier weight cymbals. On average crashes last me 6 months before cracking while playing metal/hardcore music. About 18 months when playing more mellow rock/alternative.
So let's have it. How do Saludas hold up for you heavy (or not so heavy) hitters?
A friend of mine has cracked two, but he said he had them cranked way to tight.
 
It really baffles me when I hear people saying that they are breaking cymbals all the time. I see drummers come into my studio who have cymbals with giant chunks taken out of me and I can't understand why...

If you're breaking cymbals, it's not the cymbal's problem, it's yours. You're not hitting them correctly.

I play the same genres you do and have a pretty heavy hand and have never broken a cymbal, never cracked a cymbal, nothing. If you're smashing the crap out of those things, maybe you need to take a few minutes to learn how to hit the cymbals properly, rather than wasting tons of money every year on new metal.

Learn to play with some dynamics. Hitting hard is fine on the skins but you don't need to hit the cymbals like a freaking gorilla for them to sound good.
 
It really baffles me when I hear people saying that they are breaking cymbals all the time. I see drummers come into my studio who have cymbals with giant chunks taken out of me and I can't understand why...

If you're breaking cymbals, it's not the cymbal's problem, it's yours. You're not hitting them correctly.

I play the same genres you do and have a pretty heavy hand and have never broken a cymbal, never cracked a cymbal, nothing. If you're smashing the crap out of those things, maybe you need to take a few minutes to learn how to hit the cymbals properly, rather than wasting tons of money every year on new metal.

Learn to play with some dynamics. Hitting hard is fine on the skins but you don't need to hit the cymbals like a freaking gorilla for them to sound good.

You have never broken a cymbal?
I don't know a single drummer who doesn't break cymbals.

What's your band?
 
I have also not broken a cymbal - save for a 8" thin splash thirty years ago. Granted, I don't play heavy music all the time, but when I do play rather heavy, my technique must be good because I'm letting the cymbals speak for themselves. After watching George Kollias' DVD, I can't see how he'd break anything either, he's going so fast his hits don't look that hard - in fact, you can't be that fast if he were slamming everything. But when I watch my old favorites like Bonham, or Ian Paice, their technique seems good too.
 
I Have also never cracked a cymbal, only been playing for 5 years but I play aggressive music also
 
I've had six Saludas in total- three of which I sold, two of which I still have, and one I cracked. To be fair, the crash I cracked had been around for two and a half years and was during the period I was still learning how to hit cymbals correctly. The other two I still have are a vented Glory hi-hat bottom (not likely to break... it's pretty heavy) and a 10" Glory splash which has been with me for probably three and a half years- it's fairly thin and I love the sound (sounds really similar to a 10" AAX I had once). Honestly, I think they are just as durable as any other cymbal if played with care.

The only cymbal I've cracked in the past two years is my Holy China, which is super thin, has 50+ holes in it, and is a china. Still sounds like it ought to.

Anyways, I do really recommend Saluda. I never tried out their dark, super-hammered stuff, but the Tesla and Glory lines are pretty great if you're looking for trash or a sort of AA/AAX sound (respectively).
 
You have never broken a cymbal?
I don't know a single drummer who doesn't break cymbals.

What's your band?

I have never broken a single cymbal in 25+ years and I play straight up Rock, including Zep, Maiden and Queensryche. I play Paistes, either Alphas or 2002's. I never go for a "Thin" cymbal, almost always Mediums or Rock varieties.
 
I have been playing for 15 years and have never broken or even cracked a cymbal. Actually I don't know anyone who has broken a cymbal and I know a lot of really heavy hitters.
 
I've been playing metal for ~10 years and have never damaged a cymbal. I hit pretty hard, but its all about HOW you hit them. Currently, I have cymbals from Zildjian, Meinl, Sabian AND Paiste on my kit, ranging from thin (Zildjian K Custom Fast Crash) to heavy (Paiste 2002 heavy ride). Used to have a full set of Saluda but I was never too impressed. I still have an 8" Mist splash I use on ocassion that sounds great, but I've downsized a lot recently and don't have much use for splashes.
 
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I have never met a hard rock/metal drummer who didn't break cymbals.This includes several friends who are fairly well known in that genre.Of course,some break more than others.
 
In the last 9 years I've been drumming ive broken
2 holy chinas
A paragon china
A oriental china
A zxt china
A soundcaster custom powerful crash
A xs20 splash (lasted 5 or 6 years though)
A b8 pro ozone
A aax xplosion crash.
Needless to say I've been working on my technique. I feel I'm improving, I haven't broken a cymbal yet this year =p
 
Wow. I have a friend and fellow drummer who sold me an 18" crash that was slightly cracked, just a few small cracks around the edges. He gave me a great deal and I needed to acquire a full set of cymbals. I have had that cymbal for about 2 years and the crack hasn't grown.

Never broken a cymbal. Really might be a technique thing if you're breaking them frequently.
 
I have never broken or cracked any pro cymbals in the 7 years I've played. A random B8 I did, but never a B20 alloy cymbal. As for Saluda's.... Man oh man I love my Saluda Cymbals! They stand up to the beating I lay on them. I have a 14 inch Earthworks hi hat. Nice chunk! Nice slosh! I loved it more than my Sabian AAX stage hats. The 17 inch I have sounds like a 19 inch. That baby sings! I also have a 19 inch Swiss Vented Hammered crash. More holes than an Ozone! I have videos of my bashing the hell out of them, they are perfectly fine. No cracks, not bends, no chips.

I would 100% endorse Saludas.

Wish I can convert my set up to all Saludas but I love myself some Meinl Byzance..
 
Put me on the list of one who has never cracked or broken a cymbal.
 
In the 26 years I have been drumming I have only broken two splashes. In watching your videos I notice you are really laying into those crashes. As in hitting through them instead of glancing blows. To me that technique is a sure way to break stuff.

In my playing I try to think about circles and not straight lines when hitting crashes. It helps with fluidity and allows for glancing blows to the cymbals. It also helps me utilize my wrists more.
 
I cracked a few when I first started, but I have not cracked one in thirty-five years. Peace and goodwill.
 
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