Cutting A Cymbal

[Talos]

My Zildjian Z Custom Crash is 19" and has a number of cracks around the edge so im thinking of cutting it. How would I go about it to acheive a proper and prof. finish? Also, how would it effect the sound, I dont like the sound of it at the minute cus you have to fooking get on it and rape it to get a good sound. Will that change?

Thanks a lot

[\m/-CHeV-\m/]

throw it away.. seriously.. or hang it in your room as a 'memory' and don't ever buy z customs again..

[Panopticon]

My Zildjian Z Custom Crash is 19" and has a number of cracks around the edge so im thinking of cutting it. How would I go about it to acheive a proper and prof. finish? Also, how would it effect the sound, I dont like the sound of it at the minute cus you have to fooking get on it and rape it to get a good sound. Will that change?

Thanks a lot

That's about the same as all Z Customs...because they are very thick.

[SpikedCola]

Take it to a machine shop and have them spin it in a lathe. If they make a perfect cut, it will sound a bit higher than before. If the cut is ineven, it will sound gongy and have little to no sustain.

[Talos]

:lol: Could it be even more gongier that my Z Custom Crash?

[60 Hertz Jig]

When my china started cracking, I took my dremel with a thin cutting disc and cut out the cracked areas, then filing down the part I cut out. It's worked pretty well so far. But it's a china, so I didn't have to worry about it sounding like anything other than trashy.

[Drummer300btx]

when my a custom cracked a little i took it to a metal shop and they used a grinder to grind the crack out. make sure its kind of a wide grind because if not the bending in the cymbal will focus at that point and it will crack again. My A custom is fine now and sounds great still.

[SeNeCa]

lol why do we hate Z customs? i personally dont have one or any experience with them, just asking.

[ant_182]

lol why do we hate Z customs? i personally dont have one or any experience with them, just asking.

I think it's 'cos they break easier than others and people aren't too fond of the sound. And youhave to hit it hard to get a decent sound? I'm not 100% sure though!


-Ant-

[Drum Phil]

Thats pretty much it.

If i wanted a heavy cymbal i'd go MB20 or Rude.

[Dave*Grohl]

Meinls do kick butt. I tried a MB20 crash the other day at my local shop, it was suprisingly good

[Drummer300btx]

I wish the gc near here had rudes. i wanna hear them. I like lombardo's ride sound and i wanna hear the ride for myself.

[maniac0796]

The design of the Z custom means it's prone to cracking along the hammering.

[\m/-CHeV-\m/]

rude do sound good IMO.. i saw this band live and they weren't micing the drumset at all since it was a little bar they were playing at.. still sounded awesome..

[Drum Monkey]

You can cut the cymbal with any pair of snips, just make sure they are made of a material denser than bronze.

The thing is, though, accept the fact that your cymbal is "dead".

-DM

[Drum Phil]

rude do sound good IMO.. i saw this band live and they weren't micing the drumset at all since it was a little bar they were playing at.. still sounded awesome..

Indeed. I love rude thin crashes.

[Johan VDS]

You can cut the cymbal with any pair of snipsIf your cymbal is sheet alloy that is true. But with the much harder B20 bronze (like Zildjian or Sabian top lines), expecially with thicker cymbals, you risk to ruin the cymbal even more, creating a lot of tiny edge cracks during the cutting.

Besides that, the mere downsizing of the cymbal might not be enough to have a useful cymbal again. If you only have to take off a few millimeters, it might be enough, but if you have to cut more, the shape and tension of the cymbal get totally distorted. As a result the pitch will generally drop and the cymbal can sound extremely clangy and unmusical.
When considerably downsized, the cymbal may even pop inside out spontaneously.
What needs to be done is a total rehammering of the cymbal to restore proper shape and tension, followed by lathing the cymbal to a good proportional thickness and taper. This way a new (different) but excellent cymbal can be the result. May be next time I do this I will post some clips.

In some cases the size of the bell becomes too big in proportion to the new smaller diameter. With sheet alloy cymbals I can downsize the cup to a certain extent, but with B20 this is much more difficult (mostly impossible). Then the only option is to create an effects-cymbal from it. But even this can give interesting results.
Here are some clips and pics of (previously cracked) cymbals I re-created:
http://jvds.byethost15.com/4_RE-CREATED_from_CRACKED_CYMBALS/

[Seafroggys]

I played on a Rude ride once, and I liked it.

[Drum Monkey]

To Johan VDS: I had an AAXplosion crack and cut it with a pair of snips. It's a medium weight cymbal and it cut without much problem, but in reality it was dead as soon as it cracked.

-DM

[Johan VDS]

Yes but cutting a ride with a pair of snips (especially B20) would be much more difficult.
it was dead as soon as it cracked.Yes, with certain cracks all tension is released so it will sound dead. Cutting it down and then rehammering and lathing would have been the solution here.

[Drum Monkey]

Yes but cutting a ride with a pair of snips (especially B20) would be much more difficult.
Yes, with certain cracks all tension is released so it will sound dead. Cutting it down and then rehammering and lathing would have been the solution here.
Which is why I mentioned the smaller weight of the cymbal...

I ended by buying a new crash and making a bell out of the cracked one :chug:

Sure is nice to have you around, you know your stuff!

-DM

[Drum Phil]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/rancid_punk/Cats/Inmypooperkitten.jpg

[sexual_harassment_panda]

that poor cat. I hate when things like that happen :(