Trouble finding first cymbals

Drivelikebrazil

Junior Member
So, after months of combing my local Craigslist and GC, I finally found some drums that I liked for the right price. Now, for the past week or so, I've been cymbal hunting. I've read enough here to see that it's most worth my time to buy used pro cymbals, which is good because I hate the sound of the cheapy cymbals anyway. I'm trying to keep myself at bay and purchase one cymbal piece at a time to keep the burst cost down and so I'm looking right now for a pair of hats.

However, I'm having trouble finding cymbals around where I live. For the past several months, I've only seen B8/Z[*]T/HCS/etc on craigslist and my local GC has been pretty dry on hats. Also, none of the local music stores I've been to do used cymbals. I've seen people talking about landing new beats around the $100 mark, but I've been seeing them go around the 130-140 + shipping area lately on eBay. I'd really like to get some hats at $130 or less with shipping.

Am I limiting myself too much with that budget, or do I just need to wait it out? I'm really pumped up about practicing and getting my left foot technique going, so all this waiting is killing me, lol.
 
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If you can't hear a cymbal, up close and personal, before you buy it, that is going to complicate things. I don't know what to tell you except go for pro cymbals immediately, but you already seem to get that. Perhaps mycymbal.com is the place for you, referring to you listening to their sound files and ordering online (if there is no place near you to try them).

I did this once with an Istanbul cymbal that no one stocks around me. Amazingly, the cymbal I got sounded identical to the sound file. I-freakindentical. Plus I had it in about 1.5 days, it was so fast I was taken aback.
 
I would listen to sound files online. You can watch mycymbal.com videos on youtube and some manufacturers have some sound clips and videos posted. I would recommend you pick a couple different ones you think you'll like and watch ebay for the best deal that comes up. Remember, if you don't like a cymbal you got used you should at least break even if you sell it. At worst you'll only be out the shipping costs.

I've bought a bunch of cymbals without hearing them in person first, and I've only been disappointed by one so far. I sold that one for a $10 profit accounting for shipping.

Good luck and don't be afraid of shipping cymbals. Also, guitarcenter (I'm not a fan) sometimes has decent prices on used cymbals, and will ship them for free if you pay more than $50 I think.
 
Keep looking on ebay-- your cymbals are on there. I just got some Sabian AA regular hihats for a student for $80, and there was another set that went for <$100 at the same time. I've also gotten New Beats, and a couple of Sabian AAX dark crashes for ~$100 each recently. I think you'll have a hard time matching those prices anywhere else. You really can't go too badly wrong with an A. Zildjian medium ride and thin or med thin crash, and New Beats, or the Sabian AA equivalents, so don't worry about not being able to play them first. By holding out for a ridiculously cheap <~$100 per cymbal, you should have no problem getting your money back reselling them if you get something you really don't like.
 
It's good that you've realised that used pro is by far your best bet. Last year I got my AAX stage hats for £100 off of eBay. You just have to keep looking :)
 
Also, you can place an ad on craigslist stating that you're looking for some good-quality used cymbals. I've done that when looking for specific items with some success.

You can but specify a price range and that you want pro cymbals. I had an ad like that and people want to sell you there "extremely nice" zbt or similar cymbal.
 
Here are a few completed items listings-- these are the actual sale price of these cymbals-- and there were a bunch more sold for roughly the same bread. That's a whole set of professional cymbals going for <$300 total over just a couple of days.
 

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Keep at it with your local Craigslist. I used to check listings several times a day when I was on the hunt for new gear. The great thing about buying locally is that you can really try the gear out before you buy and if you don't like it then you can resell for what you paid.

I bought a pair of 15" New Beats off the Bay without ever having heard them. I lucked out and loved them. If I hadn't of then I could have always re-sold them locally for what I paid.
 
I had to go back to my ebay purchases to see what I'd paid. I paid $145 with shipping for a set of new beats that came with a decent Yamaha hi hat stand, and I got an old Paiste 602 Sizzle Ride for $150 shipped. My son took the rivets out, but it still sounds nice. Those were all in great shape with no cracks or dings in them.
It's tricky given your budget is a little low, but if you watch for auctions ending on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursdays, you might save $15 or $20 per cymbal since less people watch those days. For me, I ultimately decided that spending an extra $30 per was better than spending hours searching for bargains, and I don't think I got ripped off or anything.
Good luck!

Hey, these look nice! $100. only 3 hrs left though. They're not shiny, which is the only reason I can see that nobody bought them. Anybody else see something I'm missing?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ZILDJIAN-NE...816?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19d9e5e1c8
 
Aw man! eBay is blocked here at work and my office is in a Faraday cage, so no cell signal either :(

Looking at the stuff in toddbishop's and TWerner's posts, it looks like I just need to keep a more watchful eye on eBay. I actually bid on one of those Sabian AA auctions, but l lost it in my zeal to get a really low price. (I'm an eBay n00b) I saw a pair of Meinl Soundcaster medium hats on GC's used list for $100, what do you guys think about those? My favorite local music store down here is a Meinl dealer and I really liked a lot of the stuff I heard from their new stock.
 
Somebody bought those new beats. Wonder if it was from here. Was not an auction, so seems funny they sat for days and sold right after they were linked to this thread.
Don't worry, though, there will be others.
Why are you in a Faraday cage? Work with sensitive data or finance industry stuff?
 
So, after months of combing my local Craigslist and GC, I finally found some drums that I liked for the right price. Now, for the past week or so, I've been cymbal hunting. I've read enough here to see that it's most worth my time to buy used pro cymbals, which is good because I hate the sound of the cheapy cymbals anyway. I'm trying to keep myself at bay and purchase one cymbal piece at a time to keep the burst cost down and so I'm looking right now for a pair of hats.

However, I'm having trouble finding cymbals around where I live. For the past several months, I've only seen B8/Z[*]T/HCS/etc on craigslist and my local GC has been pretty dry on hats. Also, none of the local music stores I've been to do used cymbals. I've seen people talking about landing new beats around the $100 mark, but I've been seeing them go around the 130-140 + shipping area lately on eBay. I'd really like to get some hats at $130 or less with shipping.

Am I limiting myself too much with that budget, or do I just need to wait it out? I'm really pumped up about practicing and getting my left foot technique going, so all this waiting is killing me, lol.

Just be patient.............good deals will come
 
GC used gear section is great and there are deals to be had.
Also pawn shops, i got every cymbal i own besides one from pawn shops. I went in every week to look at fresh stock and also told the guy what i was looking for. And he got it for me. He made a little $ and i got what i wanted. Win\win
 
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