Drummer Cafe Community Forum

Next to the snare, the ride may well the most "personal" part of a drummer's setup. Everyone has a favorite; some like them bright and pingy, and others dark with lots of wash. Whats your favorite ride, and why?

Zildjian 20' K Custom Dark Ride = Voice of God!

I have 3, depending on mood and use case.

20" Stanople - no later than 60's Swiss Paiste budget line nickel-silver alloy thing.  Its physically dark in color and darker in tone.  This thing is thin, funky, wet.   Goes "schwaAAA" when you dig in.  

22" Keplinger - stainless steel with a small bell and no cooking (he heats the bell on some).  Totally unique sounding dark, wobbley, "pang" sound with a chaotic wash, that opens up to a hellacious roar when you lay into it.  

22" Istanbul Agop Sultan - classic handmade Turkish style job in a "jazz" weight (~2700g).   Extremely colorful and musical with plenty of overtones and wash that are just off from harmonious giving it a lush vibe.  

For electric guitar bands, its my A 21 inch Sweet Ride.

Zildjian K Custom Session - 18"
Zildjian Ping Ride - 20"

I LOVE my 20" K Custom Ride.  I want to add a 22" A Custom Ping Ride at some point...  Yummmmy...

22" Istanbul Agop Vezir with one rivet (2255 grams)

20" Paiste "Prototype" that I bought two years ago.  Love it to death.  Not only do I not know how much it weighs, I don't even know what it is a "prototype" of...

sound file #1 (http://www.malletjazz.com/cymbals/prototype1.mp3)
sound file #2 (http://www.malletjazz.com/cymbals/prototype2.mp3)

I've also got an old Sabian AA medium ride (from the mid-80s) that I'm always "iffy" on live, but man, it records really nice.  And when the sax player on a gig walks over to your set and says, "I...love...this...cymbal," well...knowing this sax player in particular, that means something to me.  ;)

Sabian 21" Dry Ride

Roger

20'' Sabian HHX Manhantan Jazz Ride

I love my Saluda 20" SSX ride. It has a dark tone yet a good sense of warmth. And it has what I look for in a ride...a good bounce back. I can do bounce beats and the stick has the perfect bounce where I don't physically have to pull back while playing.

  my fav ride is the HH 22" Sabian Heavy Ride. Too bad I don't own it.

22" Paiste 602

lol,

that's "jazz" weight?!  :P

but i've got too many to mention, so here are some of my current favs:

Bosphorus New Orleans 22" (2262g) - dark, moody, yet very lively.  literally the ride of my dreams.

Bosphorus Turk Original 21" (2447g) - another moody, yet active ride that has this weighty low middy roar that's sounds like a rushing river.

Bophorus Masters 19" (1400g~) - what modern K's are supposed to sound like.  unreal left side ride with a crash to die for.

Istanbul Agop Turk Jazz 19" (2100g~) - my "steve gadd wannabe" rock and roll ride.  has a bell straight outta hell, and a moody yet frequency cutting wash that'll smack you upside the head.

Sabian HH Leopard 20" - certain peeps seem to request that i use a drier than the sahara kinda ride, and this is the only one i'd ever buy.  strangely its not too dead like a few manhole covers i've played, but this guy due to its slightly thinner weight vs. the Leopard ride from a few years back, is quite active, with a very controllable dark wash that will NEVER get overwhelmed no matter what i bash to it.  highly underrated.

20 inch Custom K Dark Ride - versatile.

I dig my cadillac... ;)

I lean yoward my 20" A Custom Ride, Zildjian to be sure. At rare times I have a 22" Swish Knooker , But I can't use it all night. If we do alot of latin I'll set it up and use it back and forth with another straight ride.

James, I love that Paiste sound.  It reminds me a bit of that vintage 602 Cn8 sound.  I LOVE THAT SOUND.  ITS THE BEST.

That being said he he he.  I love my paiste 20" Sound Formula (reminds me of james cymbal a bit- mines a bit more brittle/glassier/not as warm) and for heavier rock stuff my 21 signature dry heavy ride.  This bad boy cuts thru the fog.

I am so looking forward to possibly recording/posting some clips for this thread just for giggles.

I really like my 21" Bosphorus Ferite ride also.  I have some nice recorded samples of this also.  This is an amazingly versatile cymbal.

great thread btw- funski

Betcha don't crash  it much?   ;D

Another vote...3rd one I believe, for 20" K Custom Dark. Sounds great for jazz and and avoids geetting "washy" when played louder for rock.

Great "shimmering" sound.

BigBill

22" Sabian Paragon: for rocking out; great cutting bell and a good ping to it.
I recently acquired a 21" Istanbul Alchemy Professional Ride and this one is really growing on me fast. Not too bright, not too dark, not too pingy, and not to washy. Just right!

Hence the quotes ;)   "Jazz" is how they tagged it.   I'd have to weigh it again to be sure, might be closer to 2500.  Still for a 22 its not like its that heavy.  

So are we going to have to start weighing all of our cymbals now?  I do have a digital scale.

Is that the new thing now?

Mine are heavy - especially when they're all in the bag.   :)

My votes :

20 K Custom Dark & 20 K Custom Flat top.  I use them both in my setup.

i love the K Custom Dark, but while the 20" is fine by all means, the 22" is KILLER!!!  awesome lower pitched wash with a weighty stick feel.  terrific ride if you can find it in that size.


lol,

you havent been to cymbalholic.com have you?  ;)

yeah, I checked it out.  Seems pretty cool

I recently purchased another Paiste ride.... It's the 21" Silver Mellow (Signature series) ride. It's not a loud cymbal, but what a gem. The sound is everything they describe. http://www.paiste.com/products/cymbals/signature_rides.php (http://www.paiste.com/products/cymbals/signature_rides.php) and is even better than I expected. I use 2 rides and wanted something to play that's good for fill along with the singer. Then I switch to a louder/cutting ride for lead instrument fills. I've been a Ziljian fan for years, but acquired some Paistes a few years back and mixed them together. When it came time to replace an old cracked cymbal I took it with me and matched the sound "close" to my old Rock 21 I've had for years. I went to a Paiste seminar and ended up coming home with the Silver Mellow ride.... Very nice!  ;)

22'' Paiste 2002. VERY sweet sounding ping with good wash but controllable. I can have it sounding SO pretty but if you get in my face (guitarists) i can easily let you know whos driving the band and your Marshall stack aint got nothin to say about it. Come on Nigel, turn it up to 11!!!!.

22" sabian artisan light ride...quite possibly the most beautiful ride ive ever heard.

I have three rides I really like but a 20" Zildjian K Custom Dry is my most recent purchase and the one I am favoring currently. The others are an older 20" Zildjian Z Power Ride that weighs a ton and will cut through nearly any other sounds in the vicinity. Lastly I have a 20"  Zildjian Medium ride that I have had since the late 70's which has a super sweet shimmer to it.....

They are all great and get plenty of use; It just depends on the type of music I happen to be playing.

Just got a sweet deal (about 1/2 price) on a Sabian AAX 20" Stage Ride. Gorgeous sound. My new favorite, although I still have and use my Sabian Pro 20" Dry.