Zildjian Z and A Custom Series

GEARREVIEWS
AUGUST 2005 RHYTHM 095
Although heavier than the original A Customs, these medium-
weight versions have lost little of the original fast attack and
brightness. They are swift but full, and the effect they should
have in a band context is of a bright, penetrating, splashy
crash, with high volume and projection. The new Z Customs live
up to the Z Custom credo of “loud, raw and aggressive”. I had great
fun with the Thrash ride and was bowled over by the Projection crash.
In such company the 14" made less of a splash. But that’s just me –
it could be just what you’re after – a splash you can really lay into.
New A Customs are louder than previous models, but still bright
and attacking, and some Z Customs sound like nothing else.
You need to choose carefully – some of these cymbals you’ll
love, others you may well be happier without.
★★★★★
RATING A Customs
decay, as you can imagine, lasts forever.
This is a crash I should think you’d
reserve for a particular place in the
music where it can be isolated and
fully appreciated for what it is. It sports
what is apparently the largest bell of any
Zildjian crash, making it Zildjian’s loudest
crash. Well, I’m not going to argue.
The 19" Z Custom Thrash ride is
another unusual addition. Described as
a thrash ride it has a touch of the dustbin
lid sound about it, but not so much as
to make it too nasty. Played with the tip
of the stick it actually has clear defi nition,
but since it’s designated thrash, I guess
you’re invited to give it some. Lay in
with the shoulder of your stick and it
produces a bright and fairly corrosive
wash, but every stroke is still heard. It
soaks up the onslaught without washing
out. It’s similar to when you ride a china,
but the sound is less abrasive. I would
nevertheless suggest you get your ear
plugs in if that’s the way you intend to
play it. At 19" instead of the usual 20"
it is relatively high-pitched for a ride and
thus even brighter. It’s a contemporary
sound and a sure-fi re way of stirring
up excitement without resorting to the
full-on racket of riding your china.
The look is distinctive with lines
of circular hammerings radiating out
from the bell like a fairground wheel.
This, Zildjian tells us, is a hybrid of both
A Custom-style and Z Custom-style
hammerings. The hammer blows have
evidently been made from beneath the
cymbal as they stick up on the playing
surface, the opposite way around to the
hammerings on the Projection crash.
Splash and burn
The 14" splash was the least captivating
of the Z trio for me. There’s nothing
wrong with it, but the other two are real
characters, and played next to them,
it didn’t strike me as anything too out
of the ordinary. It’s designated a splash,
but at 14" it could be regarded as a small
crash. It’s been hammered in the same
way as the 20” Custom crash, but is
too small to have much of the Oriental
fl avour about it. Nonetheless, when I
put it next to the 14" A Custom Medium
crash it was indeed darker and faster, as
it was also slightly thinner. It has more of
a splashy sound to it, while the 14" A has
more spread, body and roundness.
★★★★★
RATING Z Customs
RHY114.tt_zild 095RHY114.tt_zild 095 17/6/05 2:51:51 pm17/6/05 2:51:51 pm