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Thread: Resurrecting cracked cymbals

  1. #1

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    Default Resurrecting cracked cymbals

    So in my effort to find small china cymbals, I stumbled upon the idea of buying cracked cymbals and resurrecting them. Unfortunately, I don't know what to look for to produce what

    The first thing I'd really love to produce is yes, a small china cymbal but due to my Zildjian obsession, has to be from a Zildjian cymbal. I'm thinking of getting an "edge-cracked" cymbal, cutting to near the bell, pressing it down on some mold/holder so I can flange it out to make a custom china. Now does this cymbal have to be thin to make it trashy and have the sought after short decay?

    The next one I want to produce is gavin harrison's Crash Bell. is this literally a Crash's bell? Do I get a heavier crash, cut to near-bell then flange it out too?

    How bad an idea are all these?

  2. #2

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    I've been taking an interest in fixing cracked cymbals. I cut down an old planet z hi hat bottom and made an 8" mini hi hat bottom that I use with a wuhan splash as a top. I turned the top hi hat into a cup chime. You'll want to flange it out a bit. It gives that extra projection.
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  3. #3

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    How do you flange a cymbal? Is it on fixed press of some sort?

  4. #4

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    Default Re: Resurrecting cracked cymbals

    Just buy a small Wuhan.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by GuiCeeAddict View Post
    How do you flange a cymbal? Is it on fixed press of some sort?
    I'm referring to the excess metal just where the bell starts to bend into the cymbal. It's not inverted, it's just a small ring left around the bell. I'm not sure how you can achieve the inverted china look without hand hammering.
    Quote Originally Posted by rickthedrummer View Post
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  6. #6

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    I tried making a china out of a 13" no name hi-hat that a friend had turned inside out (it was his at the time). I got the edge to turn back on it's self by hammering. It was a little tricky keeping tensions around the outside edge but with the right hammering I was able to get it back. I have to say as a china it sounds pretty bad not vary trashy sounds a bit like a bell with some nasty over tones. I do however like the way it sounds in a stack with the other 13" hi-hat on top I use them together as an effect type x-hat. I don't have a good anvil and was using a block of wood to hammer against I figure it stretched the cymbal differently than it would with a metal anvil.
    From the reading I have done on other forums on the subject it is recommended to start with cheep cymbals because it takes a few tries to get anything to sound good after hammering.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: Resurrecting cracked cymbals

    That Lance Campeau guy on YouTube is pretty good at this.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by GuiCeeAddict View Post
    That Lance Campeau guy on YouTube is pretty good at this.
    I've seen those vids. Cool stuff. The first vid where he received 40 some cymbals, unbeknownst to him, I believe some of them were possibly vintage hi-hat sock cymbals.

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Northern Redneck View Post
    Just buy a small Wuhan.
    +1.

    They cheap, trashy, and will save you a lot of time and frustration.

    However, if you are wanting to do it just to do it, then, well, do it!

  10. #10

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    Default Re: Resurrecting cracked cymbals

    Wuhan chinas aren't for everyone, like any one select cymbal - there's going to be some variance in the preference of an individual's ear. If you're chasing Harrison's sound, you're going to have to listen to a lot of different cymbals - I suggest starting with 6-8" splashes. Eventually you'll find something that either matches or comes close to what you're looking for, tonally. There's your cymbal.
    Last edited by Russ; 09-09-2014 at 09:19 AM.
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  11. #11

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    From what I remember reading, Gavin had cut some from splashes and one or two of them from something else...small crash bells I think. If they were cut from rides, they'd be pretty clangy sound, but not quite like a cup chime either (I speak from experience, had an old cracked thin ride, a Meinl or something, which I had cut down to a small bell, and I own four Paiste Cup Chimes. The bell I later gave to another drummer....it just wasn't the sound I was after). Gavin's little cymbals still have a slightly splashy effect I've noticed. I dunno, I'll have a look for the Modern Drummer article some time and see what it says.
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  12. #12

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    There's a bit of distinction that should be made between the tiny cup chimes (5) on his left and the "Crash Bells" more towards his straight front.

    It's the Crash Bells im looking to replicate.

  13. #13

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    If you want a small china and you have to stick with Zildjian, buy a cracked china and cut it down. I was given a cracked 12" Oriental once and turned it into a 9" trash splash sort of thing. No flange, but super dark and trashy with a quick decay. But, you'll have an easier time just buying an 8" or 10" china. They're easy to find if you know where to look, as long as you don't mind that it isn't Zildjian.

  14. #14

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    Watch Lance Campeau's cymbal project on Youtube. He currently has 39 episodes and he cuts down cracked cymbals and just about everything you can think of to do with a broken cymbal.
    Quote Originally Posted by rickthedrummer View Post
    There is intelligent life out there. The problem is that there isn't any here.

    -Mike

  15. #15

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    Yup I'm actually going over his stuff on Youtube as we speak. They're awesome!

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