Zildjian Z and A Custom Series

GEARREVIEWS
094 RHYTHM AUGUST 2005
KEY FEATURES
T
he A Customs were originally
developed by Zildjian with input
from Vinnie Colaiuta to add a bright
and modern edge to the classic A Zildjian
sound. They were a great success, and
now Zildjian has extended the range
with seven new crashes. Described
as medium weight, they are in fact the
heaviest A Customs so far, which means
they are louder and higher pitched than
previous models, and are more practical
for many hard-hitters of today.
However, there is a potential
contradiction here because the original
idea for the A Customs was that they
were thin cymbals, which harked back
to ’40s-style A Zildjians. So presumably
there’s a limit to how heavy Zildjian can
make A Customs before they lose their
raison d’etre ? Luckily, so far as I can
judge, this new batch doesn’t seem
to have passed that limit, as they retain
a quick response, particularly when they
are struck fi rmly, and unleash plenty of
volume with no sign of choking. The
heightened pitch is defi nitely noticeable
and the overall impression is of a bright,
glassy crash followed by a smooth,
medium length decay.
Worth the weight?
The smaller cymbals (14" and 15") are
quick-responding, and despite the extra
weight, the characteristically bright
A Custom timbre makes them almost
splash-like. I particularly liked the 16" and
17" crashes, as they retained the speed
of response while giving more volume.
These are real, full-bodied crashes, but
they never lose their clarity.
For the crashes above this size, the
extra weight starts to make more of an
impression. I found the 18" a little clangy
– it seemed to have lost some of the
transparency and grace of the 17".
I found it to be a similar case for the
19", but this is a relatively big crash,
for which you probably leave more
space in the music, to allow the full
tone to emerge. Despite this fi lling out,
the bigger crashes (19" and 20") still
responded nimbly. And the 19" was
Zildjian
Z and A Custom Series
From £173 | With 10 additions to these popular ranges, Geoff Nicholls
fi nds there are some you’ll love and some that need careful consideration…
ESSENTIALS
PRICES
A Customs
20" crash £305
19" crash £276
18" crash £264
17" crash £246
16" crash £222
15" crash £204
14" crash £192
Z Customs
20" Projection
crash £282
19" Custom
Thrash ride £258
14" splash £173
CONTACT
Yamaha-Kemble
Music (UK) Ltd
Sherbourne Drive
Tilbrook
Milton Keynes
MK7 8BL
Telephone
01908 366700
Website
www.zildjian.com
Gong-like properties
The 20" Z Custom Projection crash has
the largest bell of any Zildjian crash and
sounds as though it is half-crash, half-gong.
Darker and faster
14" Z Custom splash: Here’s a splash
cymbal you can really lay into. It’s darker
and faster that the 14" A Custom splash.
Hybrid hammerings
The distinctive hammerings of the 19" Z
Custom Thrash ride are a hybrid of both A
Custom and Z Custom style hammerings.
noticeably faster than the 20", which
felt more than a mere inch bigger as it
had a surprisingly deeper pitch. As an
added bonus, both the 19" and 20" have
big, clean-sounding bells, ideal for riding
on. In fact, I thought the 20" made a
great all-round ride cymbal as well as
a big-hearted crash. Being medium
weight it readily falls into that once-
popular category of crash-ride.
To sum up, these new A Customs
have certain consistencies
throughout the range, but they also
change in some other characteristics
as they increase in size. As a result,
make sure you select with care.
Half crash, half gong
Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever heard
another cymbal like this. The 20" Z
Custom Projection crash is defi nitely a
crash, with a shrill and bright attack, but
it’s followed by a massive, deep, gong-
like whoosh. It is very oriental-sounding
with shades of the Rank gong. It certainly
takes you by surprise when you fi rst
wallop it… a nice surprise though.
So it’s half crash, half gong. What this
means is that, unlike a real gong where
you tend not to hear the attack but just
the slow build-up, here you have a quite
strident attack, and once it’s over you’re
left with a gong-like humming. The
RHY114.tt_zild 094RHY114.tt_zild 094 17/6/05 2:51:35 pm17/6/05 2:51:35 pm