Vintage Zildjian cymbal

random.hero

random.hero

New member
we have an old zildjian 16 or 14 in crash on our set at my church for the youth group band thing im in and the cymbal is just messed...

i feel like a dick asking for them to keep upgrading stuff, already got a new bass drum pedal and new hihats, but i was wondering if this cymbal is just done for

its old, cant tell when it was made
its a rock crash and it is the dryest yet thickest sounding cymbal ive ever heard
no matter how hard ya hit it, it just sound like trash, almost like a cheap china cymbal...

this crash doesnt move when u hit it (even thought its barely tightened on the stand at all), its so god awful sounding, i was just wondering was it designed to be this way?

is there anything i can do to fix it?
will a good cleaning do it any good or should i just bring one of my own cymbals to replace?

any help would be nice, ive heard that cleaning/polishing cymbals makes a big differnce in sound...
so uh help please
 
Cleaning a cymbal can make a small difference, but it will not make a cymbal that sounds like "a cheap china" suddenly sound like a bright crash.

A cymbal sounds like what is sounds and there is very little you can do to change that. The csound you discribe sounds like there is a crack in the cymbal, perhap near the bell - however, since you don't mention a crack, I'm guessing you have not found one.

If it sounds that bad, you may have to plead your case to whoever approves spending. The way you make it sound even the cheapest line cymbals would sound better.
 
Does it say "rock crash" right on it? If it's a 14 inch, the sound and lack of movement sound like it almost might be a hi hat bottom :-) And if it's a 16"... it might actually be a marching cymbal mounted on a stand. I once bought a Zildjian that had all writing on it removed, and it turns out it was actually a marching cymbal that was meant to be in a pair. That thing barely moved when I hit it and it too sounded like ass. That's what you get for $20 on eBay :cool:
 
lol thanks for the help guys...
it does say Rock Crash on there...
guess it'll just be a shit cymbal for life...
 
mrface2112 said:
well, it's a rock crash, by all means, hit it with a rock!


cheers,
wade
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puts a whole knew slant on rock drumming

BTW I've found some of the 70s zildjian "rock crashes" to be pants, I've bought old avedis zildjians before & they rock or jazz whatever you prefer :p
 
Before you disregard the cymbal you want to take a good look at the hardware it's mounted on and the pads themselves. I'd try replacing them before trashing the crash.
 
NYMorningstar said:
Before you disregard the cymbal you want to take a good look at the hardware it's mounted on and the pads themselves. I'd try replacing them before trashing the crash.
Click to expand...
first thing i checked right there...
its really just astounding that a zildjian cymbal could sound so bad
 
I know on the older set of Zidjias I have you have to really beat the hell out of them to sound cool, then they are louder than God and suck in a little 12X12 practice room, but on a record in a nice room, they are amazing. Too bad my buddy actually cracked one about an inch and a half. Could be how you are hitting them possibly?
 
slidey said:
puts a whole knew slant on rock drumming
Click to expand...

indeed!

trust me, you don't want to see "hard rock" or heaven forbid "heavy metal" drumming!

slidey said:
BTW I've found some of the 70s zildjian "rock crashes" to be pants
Click to expand...

where are you from? i've got a friend in british columbia (by way of the UK) who says "pants" in that same context. before i met her, i'd never heard that expression.


cheers,
wade
 
mrface2112 said:
indeed!

trust me, you don't want to see "hard rock" or heaven forbid "heavy metal" drumming!



where are you from? i've got a friend in british columbia (by way of the UK) who says "pants" in that same context. before i met her, i'd never heard that expression.


cheers,
wade
Click to expand...

I'm from the most northern part of kilt & haggis land aka scotland
 
I thought Zildjian didn't start putting actual labels/logos on cymbals until the 80s. Hmm.

I agree that this might be a cymbal that simply needs to be hit harder to sound right. I've got an 18" crash that might fit into this same category - although mine still sounds good when I hit it at quiet/moderate volumes, it only sounds great when I hit it hard. Church is probably not the place to hit it hard, however.

How do the rest of the cymbals sound? If you're only looking to replace one cymbal, I might suggest going with a Zildjian A Custom Crash or Fast Crash. I have two of these, and I use them for church all the time. They sound great at low/moderate volumes. When things start getting loud, however, they do tend to start sounding like trashcan lids... but that's when I start laying into my older Zildjians.

If you're wanting to get a whole new set, honestly, I'd say the Sabian B8 Pro series is going to be your best bet for the money. I really like their ride cymbals in this series (IMHO, most sound better than the upper level Sabians), and their crashes are still very passable. The best part is that they're all matched.

That's another thing to consider. I think from your post that I already know the answer to this question, but does the cymbal sound bad all the time, or just in context with the rest of the kit? I often find that even the best sounding cymbal will sound terrible if played with cymbals that don't compliment it. For example, I have a great Sabian Hand Hammered crash... very expensive, and it sounds amazing on its own. Pair it up with the rest of my cymbal set, however, and its character totally clashes. Maybe it's the frequencies involved, maybe it's something else, but it just sounds BAD.

So when you go shopping for crashes alone, be sure to take at least your ride (if you don't have any other crashes) and make sure that the wash from the ride doesn't conflict with the wash from the crash.

Finally, cleaning that cymbal WILL brighten it up... not a lot, as was previously posted, but in a lot of cases, it will be just enough to do the trick. I used to hate my drummer's ride cymbal, and wasn't crazy about one of his crashes. He cleaned them on a whim (he wasn't totally happy either) and now they sound amazing!

FWIW, you might check to see if the cymbal is still in round by setting it flat on a desk or something and see if it wobbles. If it's not still in round, it might create conflicting sound waves from the two sides being unequally balanced.

Let me know if you have any other questions.
 
if one is in any way serious about cymbals I would swerve B8 pros, ZBTs & Alpha's

spend the money on something that sounds good REGARDLESS of the label. Having said that I don't look at the cheaper end of the ranges so I might be missing out on some good sounding sub pro standard stuff. Just because it's matched doesn't mean to say it's going to sound as good as the other crash in the set

in my own experience I have found myself swerving sabians full stop, but that's just me
 
I'll tell you what, I was shocked at the quality of the B8 Pro rides... their crashes leave a bit to be desired, but hey...
 
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