What y’all think about this set?

For a new drummer. How do you feel about Sabians B8X cymbal pack?
  • includes: 14" B8X hi-hats, 16" B8X thin crash, 20" B8X ride, 18" thin crash
I think it’s about $300

Thanks everyone!
 
Just curious, where do you live? You asked about cymbals in the pedal thread. The consensus is buy good used cymbals. Pawn shops in my area are loaded with them. Y'all got pawn shops where you live?

As far as the cymbals you asked about, as a general rule B8 cymbals are cheap beginner cymbals. B20 bronze is what you are after for sound.
 
Just curious, where do you live? You asked about cymbals in the pedal thread. The consensus is buy good used cymbals. Pawn shops in my area are loaded with them. Y'all got pawn shops where you live?

As far as the cymbals you asked about, as a general rule B8 cymbals are cheap beginner cymbals. B20 bronze is what you are after for sound.
Yes sorry. That was my brother since we just share the same account. I live in Los Angeles so finding cymbals shouldn’t be too difficult. However, getting good ones is pricey!
 
For a new drummer. How do you feel about Sabians B8X cymbal pack?

My feeling is that:

B8's are the cymbal parents purchase children when giving their kids a shiny new drum set as a gift. They are pretty undesirable musically, but have their place as emergency-backup cymbals, loaners, house-kit-pies, etc. Half the forum members likely have a B8 or two in one of their closet/attic.

In terms of used pricing, B8 cymbals are pretty much "free", and I cannot recommend spending $300 to buy a new set. I would recommend saving another hundred bucks and looking for a set of used A's or AA's. If purchasing new is a must, an A391 set is a good reference approximation of what you should be looking for, which you can usually find for about $700. Occasionally, you'll find a decent cymbal pack on special/clearance for ~$500. This is why you see posts recommending quality/used cymbals. FWIW, I sold a A-Custom Boxed set for $500 a couple years back.
 
Avoid B8 cymbals. They sound awful and will lessen your desire to play. They’re hard to resell and don’t hold their resale value.

Spend your money on a good set of hi-hats, ride and crash. If you continue drumming, you can add more cymbals as you see fit. If you decide drumming’s not for you, they’ll be easier to sell and you’ll be able to recoup a larger percentage of what you paid for them compared to B8s.

If you’re going to take any advice on here, let it be what the members say about cymbals.
 
No B8 anything. No ZBT anything. :)

You can skimp on the drums themselves, believe it or not. But you can't skimp on the heads, and you can't skimp on the cymbals. Gotta buy legit B20 cymbals, or some low end Paistes.
 
MNo B8 anything. No ZBT anything. :)

You can skimp on the drums themselves, believe it or not. But you can't skimp on the heads, and you can't skimp on the cymbals. Gotta buy legit B20 cymbals, or some low end Paistes.
Cool!, i was looking at some Paiste pst5 or pst7 as well as, meinl HCS or MCS. I really like the paiste but it’s a little pricey, worth the invest i suppose.
 
Cool!, i was looking at some Paiste pst5 or pst7 as well as, meinl HCS or MCS. I really like the paiste but it’s a little pricey, worth the invest i suppose.

Paiste / Meinl make a lot of sense if you live in the EU and want to avoid VAT. A few years ago, I was in Kuşadası on holiday and am still kicking myself for not going cymbal shopping.
 
Honestly, it really isn't an alloy issue (B8 vs. B15 vs. B20) but how much work goes into the cymbal. The reason why most budget/student cymbals sound dull and clangy and feel super stiff is they often aren't lathed top and bottom and have very basic hammering.

I really like Paiste PST7 and own a few of them myself. If you like/want the Paiste sound I think they're a nice choice. Paiste's sound samples are surprisingly accurate so if you like what you hear on their site you can expect what you buy to sound the same.

I've played a few PST5's in the past and I think they sound okay if your budget is really an issue but avoid the PST3's; they are brass (not bronze) and sound objectively terrible.

For me, I think the rides and hi hats in most budget lines sound fine for what they're supposed to do, either "ding" or "chick," It's the crashes that really suffer in the beginner stuff. If you feel like piecing together a set of used pro-level cymbals you'll probably end up with better cymbals, but if you're going to go with a new pre-pack I think the PST7 Universal set is a respectable start.
 
That's why I cited Paiste. To my ears, they are the one company that can make a non B20 alloy sound good.

I have a couple of low end Paistes in the PST 5 line that sound very nice to me. I have a PST 5 ride that is, to my ears, my best ride. Definitely best ride bell. Outside of Paiste, though, it is safest to avoid B8s, especially those by Zildjian and Sabian. Their low end cymbals, sadly, are wasted money, in my book.

Other possibilities for occasionally catching good low end stuff - Wuhan and Stagg.
 
My feeling is that:

B8's are the cymbal parents purchase children when giving their kids a shiny new drum set as a gift. They are pretty undesirable musically, but have their place as emergency-backup cymbals, loaners, house-kit-pies, etc. Half the forum members likely have a B8 or two in one of their closet/attic.

In terms of used pricing, B8 cymbals are pretty much "free", and I cannot recommend spending $300 to buy a new set. I would recommend saving another hundred bucks and looking for a set of used A's or AA's. If purchasing new is a must, an A391 set is a good reference approximation of what you should be looking for, which you can usually find for about $700. Occasionally, you'll find a decent cymbal pack on special/clearance for ~$500. This is why you see posts recommending quality/used cymbals. FWIW, I sold a A-Custom Boxed set for $500 a couple years back.

I’ve got about $1800 worth of B8 Paiste 2002 big beat “free” cymbals. ? But yeah I get that most budget buyers aren’t gonna buy those...?
 
Try to find good sounding Sabian SR2 cymbals in stores. You will like the prices. I found a great pair of hats new for $160 and a great 18" Crash for $100. Peace and goodwill.
 
Look for, and buy better cymbals, used. In your area there should be many outlets for used cymbals. Meinl ones mentioned are also B8 if I'm not mistaken. Zildjian A, Sabian AAX, Paiste used should be easy to find. If you buy cheap, you will want to buy again, soon.
 
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Frankie (or brother) - what kind of music are you drawn to? That should make a big difference in the type of cymbals you're thinking of buying.

Pete
 
A good first set that wont cost too much would be Zildjian Z series. Came out in the 90s if memory serves. You should be able to find them plus you wouldn’t mind keeping them if your musical tastes change. B20.
 
Should mention that I’m referring to the first two iterations. Not talking about the last ten or so years of Z stuff.
 
I’d stay away from the Sabian B8s. While there are some cymbals using B8 material that are great sounding (paiste 2002 or giant beats come to mind) the low end Sabian are pretty awful sounding. I started out with Sabian B8 and they were gone as soon as I started gigging. Also, the resale on them is basically zero when you decide to upgrade in the future. I ended up with some more Sabian B8 cymbals when I bought a used beater kit a few years ago. I tried to sell them for next to nothing and nobody wanted them. I ended up using a hole saw on them and cut them into brass washers to use on the farm. So far that’s the best use I’ve come up with for them.
 
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