So... ive just been given 4 "broken" cymbals - HELP

SidewinderINC · 14 Jul 2006 at 23:05

Ok, after my fun Cowbell thread, heres another drum related thread!
firstly i'm not in any way shape or form a drummer so here goes.

ive just been given 4 cymbals in the form of.

1x Zildjian Avedis 17" Rock Crash
1x Zildjian K custom 16" Special Dry Crash
1x Zildjian Avedis 17" Custom Projection Crash
1x Zildjian Oriental 18" China Trash

looking at the prices new of these things, they were once pretty good cymbals

each of them has a crack in it, just 1 crack in each but the severity of the cracks differs from a 1cm crack from the edge inwards to 3/4 circumference crack near the center on the 17" rock crash (think i'll throw this one out)

i know they'll never sound whole again even if they're repaired but is there anything i can do to attempt to make them sound reasonable and to stop them cracking any further?

i cant judge the sound of them currently as i dont have anything to mount them on to test the sound.

i know the elitist of you will just say "throw them out they're worthless" and i'll agree if we were doing gigs where musically orientated people were there, but we're just students at the moment

Cheers

Matt

Cybermyk · 14 Jul 2006 at 23:15

You may be able to get the manufacturer to repair/replace them, give them a call and ask.

Only useful fix I've seen is drilling a small hole where the crack ends to stop it spreading further. The sound will be a bit different to the original though.

SidewinderINC · 14 Jul 2006 at 23:22

yer, thats what ive heard, drill a hole at the end and maybe solder the rest up.

guess i could email zildjian and see what they say, but these are pretty old, and whilst they have quite a bit of wear in them the rest of the metal seems in good shape.

raz0rr · 14 Jul 2006 at 23:36

If the cracks are at the edge, you could cut the cymbals down an inch or two, for example, making the 17" into a 15"

The oriental china may even benefit from cracking, as it just makes the sound a lot more 'trashy', which is exactly what you want with a china.

If you got given them for free, they'd make some great effects cymbals. You wouldn't really get anything for them if you sold them, so you could always play around with them a bit, drilling holes in them, ala the Sabian HHX Ozone Crash:

Or maybe get some rivets/jingles fitted.

If the cymbals are too far gone to use as real cymbals, just have a bit of fun with them

Dave · 15 Jul 2006 at 00:25

Cybermyk said:
Only useful fix I've seen is drilling a small hole where the crack ends to stop it spreading further. The sound will be a bit different to the original though.

Just as a precaution - you should drill an inch or so in front of where it ends. This is because hairline cracks that extend past the crack tend to be invisible to the human eye.

I'd say stack the cymbals. You can make some really short, trashy sounds out of stacks. Any cracks around the bell of the cymbal is a manufacturing defect and if the cymbal is still under warranty it should be able to be replaced free of charge.

This is what I mean by stack, just chuck them on top of each other:

SidewinderINC · 15 Jul 2006 at 00:31

nah, none of these are in warranty anymore as far as i know, and i dont have any of the information for them even if they were.

that stack idea sounds pretty cool, wont chuck out the near enough dead one and see what happens there

Dave · 15 Jul 2006 at 00:43

Just chuck all 4 of them on a cymbal stand and see the result.

Was going to make a snide comment about a Zildjian cymbal being a "good" cymbal but I decided against it

(I play Paiste myself)

SidewinderINC · 15 Jul 2006 at 00:48

*shrug* not a drummer

SexyGreyFox · 15 Jul 2006 at 11:44

Never throw cymbals away because they're great when you're practising.
You can only see the crash on this picture but all the cymbals are cracked or ripped and we have at least ten spares in the studio just for practise.

SidewinderINC · 15 Jul 2006 at 20:22

and theres something i never even thought of!
saves the good ones for gigs/recording

cheers dave

Dave · 15 Jul 2006 at 21:14

I had a mate who did that and when he hit the crash, a huge chunk shot off and almost hit a guitarist standing next to him! If only . . .

raz0rr · 15 Jul 2006 at 22:03

Dave said:
Just chuck all 4 of them on a cymbal stand and see the result.

Was going to make a snide comment about a Zildjian cymbal being a "good" cymbal but I decided against it (I play Paiste myself)

Paistes are awesome.
The Dark Energy line sound so good it's unbelievable. Too bad they're so expensive though :/

Dave · 15 Jul 2006 at 22:09

raz0rr said:
Paistes are awesome.
The Dark Energy line sound so good it's unbelievable. Too bad they're so expensive though :/

It's all personal - I prefer the 2oo2's over the Signatures even though the Sig's carry a price premium. Having said that I do have a Sig ride, although I got it for cheaper than what I would've payed for the 2oo2 ride

SexyGreyFox · 16 Jul 2006 at 11:32

Our drummer from 4 years ago is called Ivan and I've never seen anybody hit a kit as hard. As I mentioned above we have at least ten broken cymbals up the corner of the room and everyone was done by him. I thought he used cheap cymbals until he gave me a receipt for the taxman and it was £200.

raz0rr · 16 Jul 2006 at 16:42

dmpoole said:
Our drummer from 4 years ago is called Ivan and I've never seen anybody hit a kit as hard. As I mentioned above we have at least ten broken cymbals up the corner of the room and everyone was done by him. I thought he used cheap cymbals until he gave me a receipt for the taxman and it was £200.

I shed a tear every time I hear about drummers like that.

I've never seen anyone hit harder than Danny Carey of Tool, and he only has occasional breakages.

Dave · 16 Jul 2006 at 18:21

dmpoole said:
Our drummer from 4 years ago is called Ivan and I've never seen anybody hit a kit as hard. As I mentioned above we have at least ten broken cymbals up the corner of the room and everyone was done by him. I thought he used cheap cymbals until he gave me a receipt for the taxman and it was £200.

That's just bad technique. I've seen hard hitters with Formula 602's (old cymbals for those who don't know them) and they are still as perfect as the day they were bought.

Even a soft-hitter can break a cymbal if it's hit incorrectly. (and/or the cymbal is not mounted properly)

raz0rr · 16 Jul 2006 at 23:07

Dave said:
That's just bad technique. I've seen hard hitters with Formula 602's (old cymbals for those who don't know them) and they are still as perfect as the day they were bought.

Even a soft-hitter can break a cymbal if it's hit incorrectly. (and/or the cymbal is not mounted properly)

Or they're using Ahead sticks. I mean, they use the same alloy as baseball bats, yet people assume the 'replacable plastic sleeves' are going to absord all of those damaging vibrations.