6/24 UPDATE: I just added two more 22″ Extra Special Janavars— at 1938 and 1950 grams they are very light weight, and handle it beautifully. As I’ve said, I’m very excited about the quality of their lighter cymbals recently. No washing out, no loss of definition, just easy to play, lovely, lush cymbals— one warm, one trashy.
UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Those cymbals have been dubbed “Helena” (L) and “Matilda” (R)— Matilda is on hold, Helena has interest from one of my Seattle people.
CYMBALISTIC: OK, I’ve been remiss, letting the new cymbals pile up without making new videos, so here are eight of them all at once. Turkish-style Holy Grails, and Extra Special Janavars, mostly 20s, a 21, two 22s, and a 17″ crash. A number of these have heavy patinas, with rivets installed. They’re very special cymbals, if I were you I’d hop on over to my site Cymbalistic and pick one out.
The lighter Holy Grails are really great right now, like this 21″:
The heavy patinas have been really interesting— I’ve often deliberately chosen some problematic cymbals for this treatment, and virtually every time it has turned something that was either uncontrollable, or with a problematic timbre, into a really classic, funky jazz sound. Turkish K. Zildjians will usually have some funky/discordant aspect to their timbre— sometimes pleasing, sometimes not— which has been mostly refined away by modern smiths. When a weird Cymbal & Gong cymbal comes up, the patina takes a wild sound and turns it into a focused funky sound, virtually always a pleasing form of that original K. Zildjian funk.
Let’s be clear, too, the “weird” cymbals are not that weird. Cymbal & Gong’s consistency and quality control is excellent. Usually they’re just lighter cymbals that are a little wild. They may well have been to someone else’s taste in their natural state.
The Extra Special Janavars (my own custom variant on that series) and the Turkish-style Holy Grails both have basically complex jazz sounds, but the distinction between them is becoming clearer. Especially with this round, which has similar 20 and 22″ cymbals from each line. The TSHGs will be more mellow, with a deep bell sound, and the ESJs will generally have a higher, slightly more forceful sound.
Compare this Turkish-style Holy Grail “Berk”:
With this Extra Special Janavar “Primo” (UPDATE 10 MINUTES LATER: oops, this cymbal just been sold, already. UPDATE A FEW DAYS LATER: oops sold another one of the same model):
Also compare the two slightly heavier 22s, “Millicent” (XSJ) and “Bernardo” (TSHG).
There is a whole lot of more stuff available at Cymbalistic, my special selections, and stock on hand at Cymbal & Gong in SE Portland. As always, you can consult with me to find you the exact type of thing you’re looking for.