CYMBALISTIC: Cymbal day – UPDATED

UPDATE: I got some cymbals back with a heavy patina added— 17″ and 21″ Holy Grails, and a 20″ Extra Special Janavar. Naturally they sound great. These will be available for purchase on Cymbalistic shortly. I’ve played them next to my own 17″ and 20″ Holy Grails here.

I also played some special order flat rides— 20 and 22″. Those are still at Cymbal & Gong— if you want one, let me know fast, before some other dealer gets them!

CYMBALISTIC: A new shipment of Cymbal & Gong cymbals is in, and I spent a couple of hours at the warehouse (aka Tim’s basement) playing cymbals, and picking things out for sale on my Cymbalistic site.

Let’s put right up top that I will be bringing some cymbals to Seattle next week— the 20th and 21st— if you want to want to come play them. Shoot me a note at the email Todd link in the sidebar, or via the contact form on Cymbalistic.

I mentioned before, making cymbals isn’t like making toasters— it’s a human process, and there is some variance over time, and from batch to batch. And things have been developing in some interesting ways recently. I think the very light cymbals are better than ever, as are the heavier cymbals. The heavier cymbals play a little lighter than their actual weight, and the lightest cymbals ride better than ever— they’ll be very full when crashing, still with a defined ride sound, like a cymbal 100g heavier.

I got some video of the things I played, all by Cymbal & Gong, of course:

17″ Holy Grail crashes
I played two cymbals, which were almost exactly the same weight as my treasured 1067g 17″, that I got in 2017. The bell is slightly smaller on the new ones, but the sound and performance is very similar— mine has a heavy patina, so it has a drier sound. I’m getting the one in the center, which had a slightly funky tonality, and having him put the heavy patina on it, and may get the other one as well, and sell them as a Todd Special, since I love my 17 so much.

21″ Holy Grail Jazz Rides
These are the cymbals I’m talking about above— thin, with the expected full bodied crash, but with a defined ride sound.

20″ Extra Special Janavar Crash-Rides
These are my own design variation, and they have been a big hit, and the line continues to mature.

He will be giving heavy patinas to one of each of those models, with rivets on two of them— I’ll have those next week. The entire time I’ve been dealing with Cymbal & Gong, the cymbals have been remarkably consistently excellent; lately I find myself gravitating to the few ”bad” ones— that sound or behave differently than usual. Those are the best candidates for a heavy patina— many times that has turned a weird or difficult to control cymbal into a really good instrument. It’s kind of fascinating.

I also played some 20″ American-type Holy Grails, which are normally a more aggressive sounding than the usual Turkish-type, especially in the 22″ size. The 20″ American-type are usually more middle of the road, but the ones I played were very much the same experience I’m used to with the 22— very bold, with raging high mids and a pronounced bell sound. They were great, but I already have several of the more normal examples in stock.

The flat rides were reasonably light weight, but played more like medium flats, quite dry, with a rather pointed tone, while having basic warm tone— the 18s were quite similar to an 18″ Paiste 602 Medium flat ride I used to have, except with a warmer tone. I’m a poor judge for flat rides. They are available right now in 18, 20, and 22″ sizes— if you are looking for one, let me know.

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