Cracked Cymbal

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drumlinefreak13

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i volunteered to take home a cracked cymbal from my school band about a year ago...it's a 16" sabian b8pro thin crash and its got a crack about 5". i'm tight on money and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of how to fix it without just throwing it away and buying a new one.
 
You can drill the very edge of the crack to attempt to keep it from spreading further into the cymbal. Aside from that, there's not much else you can do. Some people have had success cutting out the area around the crack, and making sort of a triangle shape where the crack was. I've never tried that, nor do I have the tools to :-) I have drilled cracks with some decent success though - not always, but sometimes on eBay finds and pawn shop cymbals.

Good luck!
 
drumlinefreak13 said:
i volunteered to take home a cracked cymbal from my school band about a year ago...it's a 16" sabian b8pro thin crash and its got a crack about 5". i'm tight on money and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of how to fix it without just throwing it away and buying a new one.
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That cymbal is only like 65 bucks brand new. Just buy another. I've tried drilling and cutting on cheap cymbals. It's not good.
 
i gotta agree with greg. saving cracked cymbals in general doesn't usually work out well, and a b8 simply isn't worth saving at all, sorry. :(
 
drumlinefreak13 said:
i volunteered to take home a cracked cymbal from my school band about a year ago...it's a 16" sabian b8pro thin crash and its got a crack about 5". i'm tight on money and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of how to fix it without just throwing it away and buying a new one.
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You can't. It's toast, and it will never sound right again. Insofar as a B8 sounds right to begin with.....
 
I agree w/ the sentiments here, get a new cymbal since a B8Pro isn't worth saving... but... keep that one the way it is for a weird, trashy effects cymbal. It may take 10 years before you have a use for it, but it could come in handy some day.
 
drill the crack out get a small peizo transducer at radio shack for 1.99 solder it to a 1/4 jack with some speaker wire tape it under the cymbol cut out some thin clear vinyl about the same size as the cymbol use double sided tape and tape the vinyl under the cymbol and sell it off as a realistic drum trigger should get about 50 to 75 bucks for it on ebay and it will cost you like 5 to 8 dollars to do and they work great
 
Take the cymbol and put it on the ground and stand on the center and bend the edges twards you so so the cymol is bent inside out...Now mount in upside down on a stand and you and neat sounding china type cymbol....
 
I usually donate my cracked cymbals to the local high school kids who are in bands that can't afford shit. It doesn't sound exactly like an A Custom should, but it works for them.
 
Does it sound BAD? And if so, is it because of the crack, or because it's a pretty cheap cymbal anyway? I buy up cracked cymbals all the time, actually... it's a way to get a great deal on nice bronze. The best crash I own (Istanbul Agop 16" thin) cost me $10, although it's falling apart bad enough that it's recording-only now. And I have an extraordinary Sabian Vintage Ride that's been professionally repaired... no further cracking and it was $50 for a $300 cymbal.

If it sounds good, play it until it doesn't anymore. If it sounds bad, give it to some poor kid who doesn't have a cymbal at all.
 
Pretty much agree with what has been said here. Drill a 1/4" hole where the crack is continuing then cut a small triangle. The cymbal will last few months longer, but it's sound will now be altered. A lot of guys I know used to put rivets around cracked cymbals (every 6") to regain the lost sustain, but you never get the original sound back. They can actually sound pretty cool with rivets in the right application.

But really, you need a new cymbal and B8s are a good deal new. Properly used and taken care of cymbals don't crack. Mine are 22 years old and still sound like new.
 
i cracked my cymbal just yesterday in the morning and i did this hole thing and cut a little triangle. after the diy stuff i actually hit the cymbal and to my surprise it sounded ok. it didn't sound like it did. there was a much more sustained crash, but it worked.

so later that day i had a reheasal with my band and about halfway through the fucking thing cracked again. it cracked where the hole was towards the center of the cymbal. i assume it happened because of the whooble effect thanks to the triangle and that created enough shear to crack it again.

point is i figured out that once a cymbal is cracked it's over.
 
I would be extremely careful playing with a cracked cymbal, especially something like a crash cymbal. They can crack further and send pieces flying like projectiles in unpredictable directions, including at you. I've been hit by them before. It sucks
 
5" crack in a 16" cymbal... Your not looking too good, but don't despiar there's a few things you can do to get some use out of it.

Once a cymbal cracks it is impossible to fix. Period. You can drill it then cut the crack etc. and it can prolong the life of the cymbal, but it will change the sound, so is not technically fixing it. This is not a bad thing though, my favourite ride is an old paiste Rude that had a 1 & 1/2" chunk taken out and it sounds amazing.
This technique has far better results on larger cymbals too .i.e 18" +, you take a piece out of a 16" crash that doesn't have that much mass to begin with...? 20" crash - different story.

A cracked cymbal is a great excuse to be creative and experiment with making some interesting effects cymbal, here's some things I've tried:

1) Turn it into a chime/bell. Think Gavin Harrison and those little chime things he uses. Get in their with some good cutting tools and basically just leave the bell and you got yourself an interesting little effects cymbal.

2) Cutting the cymbal down to from 16" to say 10". Dependent on how thick the cymbal was to begin with you'll end up with something sounding like a Will Calhoun 'Alien Disc' makes for someinteresting effects by itself, but I would get that modified 10" crash/disc and stack it in a 12" or 14" china, or put a 10" splash on it for some interesting mini hats.

3) Cut the crack out, or put holes in it like a Sabian Evo crash, then put some rivets/washers/anything! in the deformed result. You'll get a real nasty 'white noise' cymbal. Dirty, nasty, awesome. As long as the result sounds good to your ear.

So don't chuck that wrecked cymbal away, get all mad scientist on it and turn it into something interesting and new.
 
^ right on.

greyharmonix said:
point is i figured out that once a cymbal is cracked it's over.
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disagree, I just bought two cracked zildjians off of craigslist, with a little work both of them are quite usable... one better than the other.

But then again, I play the damn things, not beat them the fuck up like I got major anger management problems.

Honestly, a 16" sabian b8pro isn't that good sounding to begin with... prolly shoot for an effects cymbal or stack it.
 
zuul said:
5" crack in a 16" cymbal... Your not looking too good, but don't despiar there's a few things you can do to get some use out of it.

Once a cymbal cracks it is impossible to fix. Period. You can drill it then cut the crack etc. and it can prolong the life of the cymbal, but it will change the sound, so is not technically fixing it. This is not a bad thing though, my favourite ride is an old paiste Rude that had a 1 & 1/2" chunk taken out and it sounds amazing.
This technique has far better results on larger cymbals too .i.e 18" +, you take a piece out of a 16" crash that doesn't have that much mass to begin with...? 20" crash - different story.

A cracked cymbal is a great excuse to be creative and experiment with making some interesting effects cymbal, here's some things I've tried:

1) Turn it into a chime/bell. Think Gavin Harrison and those little chime things he uses. Get in their with some good cutting tools and basically just leave the bell and you got yourself an interesting little effects cymbal.

2) Cutting the cymbal down to from 16" to say 10". Dependent on how thick the cymbal was to begin with you'll end up with something sounding like a Will Calhoun 'Alien Disc' makes for someinteresting effects by itself, but I would get that modified 10" crash/disc and stack it in a 12" or 14" china, or put a 10" splash on it for some interesting mini hats.

3) Cut the crack out, or put holes in it like a Sabian Evo crash, then put some rivets/washers/anything! in the deformed result. You'll get a real nasty 'white noise' cymbal. Dirty, nasty, awesome. As long as the result sounds good to your ear.

So don't chuck that wrecked cymbal away, get all mad scientist on it and turn it into something interesting and new.
Click to expand...

Great post. Welcome to HR!
 
batterista said:
I agree w/ the sentiments here, get a new cymbal since a B8Pro isn't worth saving... but... keep that one the way it is for a weird, trashy effects cymbal. It may take 10 years before you have a use for it, but it could come in handy some day.
Click to expand...

And sample it as it gets weirder and trashier.
 
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