Zildjian. What series does quality start?

V

visionvsx

Junior Member
Ok I understand sound of a cymbal can be a personal choice. I probably will be buying my zildjians second hand and would love some advice from you guys on what series is worth a look in as far as build quality, Longevity etc goes. The B8 sabians i got with my kit are crap and i dont want to go down that road again with the zildjian brand. As my b8 pack up i want to replace them with quality s/h zildjians. So what do u guys rate?
 
Zildjian A.
Zildjian A Custom
Zildjian K, all of the K's,are the only ones I would spend money on.
 
Agreed. A is where it starts with K on the high end. I have all A Custom and love them. Do you have to get Zildjian? There are many other killer brands out there.
 
drumgeek93 said:
Agreed. A is where it starts with K on the high end. I have all A Custom and love them. Do you have to get Zildjian? There are many other killer brands out there.
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I guess as a kid allways wanted em but could never afford them. Now im older want to live the dream lol. I guess its a brand name thing.I never had nikes as a kid lol.
 
I'm not a big fan of the A's but they are a quality cymbal series.
I have an A splash that I really like.
I do like the K series a lot and I own, and have owned many of them.
Sabian also has great sounding cymbals.
 
visionvsx said:
I guess as a kid allways wanted em but could never afford them. Now im older want to live the dream lol. I guess its a brand name thing.I never had nikes as a kid lol.
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lol very understandable. The A customs just give me a more universal sound. But I'm sure you would be stoked with either or. (A custom or K)
 
Armand is fine but we don't talk about Pitch Black's around here or anywhere else.
 
visionvsx said:
Where does the armand and pitch black series fit into the scheme of things
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Armand's are a professional grade cymbal that were designed to try and recapture the vintage feel of the older A's from the 40's, 50's and 60's (before they started making them increasingly thicker in order to stop the rock guys breaking them).

Pitch Blacks were/are a joke. A marketing gimmick to try and cash in on young guys influenced by the likes of Barker and Jordison etc. They weren't very successful and the reason for that was because they weren't very good.
 
I like As for hats and rides, but a little less so for crashes. I like A Customs for the Crashes and a little less so for the rides and hats.

I can find a lot to like in the K lines except the price! They're competing with the other so-called "hand hammered" cymbals out there (many of which actually are), but the Ks are hammered entirely by machine, so I'm wondering how they justify the price... Maybe Zildjian figures people won't feel like they're getting the very best unless they're paying the very most! I'm not all cynicism on that, though - there are a lot of outstanding Ks, so if cost isn't an issue, they're definitely worth a look.

My Zildjian setup is: 14" A New Beats, a 22" A Medium Ride (I found a thin one that is a treat to play), a few A Custom Crashes, and a 20" K Crash/Ride. I'm happy with this setup.
 
As machine hammering has been brought up.
Zildjian uses a computer programed robot hammer in production of their cymbals.
They do this for consistency and increased productivity in the factory.
It takes many hours to make a cymbal and Zildjian has found a way to streamline the process a bit.
I don't have a problem with machine hammering.
The cymbals sound good so I don't care. I don't see machine hammering taking away from the quality.
The rest of Zildjian's process is done by skilled craftsman who really know their stuff.

Please watch these vids.
There are 3 of them in the series.
http://youtu.be/mJC3gSHtaL8
 
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some ZHT stuff isn't terrible- the EFX I have seen used quite a lot with pro drummers but obviously the crashes/ rides/ hats won't stand up to the likes of A custom or K series
 
Avoid the Planet Z line as well; those are the lowest of the low end.

Z3s are pro cymbals alongside the A and K lines.
 
If quality of sound is the reason you think the B8 cymbals are crap, you are probably ready for the upgrade. If it is breakage, then... you probably should address that first before you invest money into something that is not going to fix the problem.
 
i've had great results buying old 70s and 80s Zildjian As off of eBay. it can be hit or miss... but when i was starting out, new cymbals were not an option. i bought a 24" medium ride for less than $200 and crashes for between $75 to $150... although i tend to look for 20" and 22" medium rides that are on the light end of the spectrum and use them as crashes.

A Customs are a little too bright for me, i like the dirty old, well used As.

now that i'm actually making money (not at drumming), and have learned that bashing my cymbals is bad financially and musically, i'm looking at Paiste 2002s and Giant Beats...
 
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