Gettin some cymbals

[macrae11]

I've been there almost half a dozen times, and it's always super cool.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Just got back from the Sabian factory. Gotta hand it to the guys there, they are super nice folks. They treat you like you're any number big stars that come by there all the time.

Took my about 75 minutes to find what I wanted.

I have to say, Malcolm is absolutely right, exact cymbal models can vary so much that they can become closer in sound to different models than anything. I went through about 14 different 17" AAX-Plosion crashes before finding the right one. Each one were totally different.

We started with the ride. I had my 20"A Custom Ping ride in as a reference so we started there. That led us to a AA Rock 20" model that was pretty sweet, but not really what I was going for. I then told him that I heard some HH Rock rides that I loved. So we started looking at probably well over a dozen, when one of them just yelled out at me. I told him that that was it! We kept looking just to make sure, checking out some HHX stuff, but nothing really struck me like the one I had picked out.

Next we went for hi-hats. Started with some HHX Evolution hats. Then we started mixing and matching tops and bottoms. My favorite at this stage was a combo of 144"AA Metal-X tops with HHX Evolution bottoms. We moved over to a different section of the vault to check out some of the AAX stuff, as I wasn't quite there yet. We tried some AAX fusion hats (all hats were 14") and different variations, but they weren't quite there either. then we tried out some AAX-celerator hats, and all of a sudden I was digging it more and more. We A-B'd them with some other models which included AA Flat hats, and AAX Stage hats, but in the end the X-celerators had what I was looking for. We loved the bottom, so then it was just a matter of finding the right top for it. Took like 8 or 9 tries to get the right one. The hats were probably the hardest thing to get right, and I'm not sure I'll be 100% happy with, but you can't tell until you get a couple of weekends in with them. I'm sure I'll love them, I'm just so used to my Ks.

The crashes were a bit harder to put together than I anticipated. I went in the direction of the AAX-Plosion crashes right away knowing that the tone and projection I'll be looking for would likely be there. I found an 18" right away that I loved, and now I had to find a 17" to match. Problem is that a 17" will probably be too close in pitch which I wanted to avoid. So we searched for a while to find the right one. Ended up 2 rooms down looking at the Fast X-plosion series which remind me of my A Customs with balls, but they were a but too thin in case I wanted to lace into them a bit. I mean it's good that the cymbals have flex so that you don't break them but these were a bit much. We ended up finding a 17" X-plosion that was the right pitch to complement the other crash.

All the cymbals seemed to play well together. So I got them to bag 'em.

Meanwhile Mark Love (this guy knows his shit) took me to see something that we'll never see in stores around here. It's called the "SR" line of cymbals. Basically they are re-issues. They are old AA, AAX, HH, ect. cymbals that are re-rolled and re-lathed and go out to select shleves completely unmarked. All the markings will say is SR and either heavy or thin. So they don't have models so to speak, although you can still kinda see the old hammer marks that give away the cymbals origin. The cymbals have a really unique finish, really attractive. Best part is that they are half the price of regular cymbals! They still sound great, and are checked to be free of defects. Had I been shown these first I would have spent all my time checking out those cymbals, because they would have been so unique. Mark said that they are only sent to stores to have a minimum of 150 Sabian models on their floors at all times. So don't expect to see any of the beauties around here. Although I get the impression that you could get them straight from the factory in the same way I got my cymbals today, although I can't confirm that. Next time I go there, I'm definitely spending time in that side of the vault.


Thus concludes my report. I must say that I've rarely ever been treated as well as I was treated in that vault. They really care of their customers. It's enough to keep me a Sabian customer from now on. I'll keep my Zildjians for my Yamaha kit, but that's it.

Result:

20" HH Rock Ride
14" AAX-Celerator Hats
17" AAX-Plosion Crash
18" AAX-Plosion Crash

[Mathieu Benoit]

PS... The folks at Tony's Music Box, are pretty much the shit too. Excellent service, top notch music retailer.

[macrae11]

Very cool Matt. Mark Love is indeed awesome, and when I first heard him play, I totally didn't expect him to be such a friggin awesome drummer. Dave is cool too, but he's usually busy testing cymbals.

Did you deal with Karl at Tony's? He's the man.

[Mathieu Benoit]

MacRae, when you go up try the Memphis Ride. If I had another $300 bucks to blow, I'd have bought that cymbal in a heartbeat. The guy I went with bought it, it is a whole lot of studio goodness. Sharp looking too. Just not what I needed in a live ride. But for you guys up there, I'd totally try it out.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Very cool Matt. Mark Love is indeed awesome, and when I first heard him play, I totally didn't expect him to be such a friggin awesome drummer. Dave is cool too, but he's usually busy testing cymbals.

Did you deal with Karl at Tony's? He's the man.

Actually Mark isn't a drummer, one of the only guys there who isn't. Dave was around, I'm pretty sure he's actually from the KV region.

I dealt with Karl. Love Karl, he's awesome. He's actually heading out on tour until June with his band so he won't be at the shop for a bit...

[macrae11]

Actually Mark isn't a drummer, one of the only guys there who isn't. Dave was around, I'm pretty sure he's actually from the KV region.

Really?? I've never seen him at a kit, but some of his stick work is awesome!

I dealt with Karl. Love Karl, he's awesome. He's actually heading out on tour until June with his band so he won't be at the shop for a bit...

Yeah I know. He actually leaves today. I hope I don't have any sessions coming up Oh well if I do, I guess that's just an excuse to bring you or Malcolm down!

MacRae, when you go up try the Memphis Ride.

I'll definitely check that out when I go down, whenever that will be I don't know. We're still totally swamped here.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Actually Mark isn't a drummer, one of the only guys there who isn't. Dave was around, I'm pretty sure he's actually from the KV region.

Really?? I've never seen him at a kit, but some of his stick work is awesome!

Yeah because he learned to do specific strokes to examine the sound of the cymbal. He only knows those strokes. That's what's messed up... if he wanted to be a drummer his right hand would already be some scary. He learned those strokes from the older generation cymbals testers.

***********

Also I wanted to mentioned I swung by Los Cabos at the same time. Met Stephanie, who is crazy (in a cool and sexy way), and she gave us a tour of the plant. I got a brick of sticks out of the deal that are identical to the Vaters that I normally get, except the are from Red Hickory that is from the denser core of the tree. Should be more durable we'll see. Anyways, I'm a pretty big fan of those folks too now...

[macrae11]

Yeah the Los Cabos people are quite cool as well. I've never been down to their plant though, just met the people.

[Malcolm Boyce]

Good for you Matt... No Pics?

[Mathieu Benoit]

Sorry I wish I would have thought of it. I was just really focused on getting down to it. I really wished I would have had pictures of the SR line, I was trying to discribe them to Nick last night, they were somthing else... I'm probably going to go back next year when I buy my jazz kit, and go exclusively through those cymbals to outfit that kit. I really wish I had pictures of those effin things. SOOOO pretty!

[Jef]

Sorry I wish I would have thought of it. I was just really focused on getting down to it. I really wished I would have had pictures of the SR line, I was trying to describe them to Nick last night, they were something else... I'm probably going to go back next year when I buy my jazz kit, and go exclusively through those cymbals to outfit that kit. I really wish I had pictures of those effin things. SOOOO pretty!

Maybe outfit your jazz kit with one of these. They'll be digging them up in another month or so.

[macrae11]

Yeah we did the video shoot for that burial. I can't wait to see how they turn out.

[Mathieu Benoit]

Maybe outfit your jazz kit with one of these. They'll be digging them up in another month or so.

Yeah I'd like to hear one. But the SR series is just as unique and probably prettier. Besides they are half price too!

I'm thinking I should make yearly trips now... I'm hooked.