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SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink Good ride cymbal for surf

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SamDBL
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Joined: Sep 19, 2016
Posts: 225
Tampa
United States
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Link Posted on Feb 22 2019 08:47 PM

What's a low to mid-priced one that'd be good? Seems like they used gigantic rides, most of the time.

—

Guitarist for Black Valley Moon & Down By Law

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Surfing_Sam_61
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Joined: Jan 15, 2019
Posts: 1515
Link Posted on Feb 24 2019 08:16 AM

It depends on your set up - If your going for a traditional 1960's jazz kit style (Bass, snare, hi tom, floor tom) setup. with only a ride cymbal (No crash cymabals). Then you need a ride that can be used for crashes as well, Usually they are very large in size and the bell rings out better as well when doing bell type stuff.

If you are using crash cymbal overheads already then a smaller Ride will work - it really comes down to trying them out in a music store or sound bites on the net - It really comes down to what sound is right for what your doing. Some players spend years trying to find the sound that's right for them.

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ElectricLimnology
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Joined: Nov 20, 2017
Posts: 104
Southeast MIchigan
United States
2 News Pins
Link Posted on Feb 24 2019 12:40 PM

Hey there SamdDBL, even though I talk about guitars and write and play surf songs as a guitar player, my first instrument was drums. I don't often play drums out of the basement so much these days but drums are my musical foundation. I'm a drum nut and I love playing with good drummers. At the same time I can barely tolerate listening to bad sounds coming from a kit. Playing expensive cymbals is pure joy but you don't really need to spend the big bucks to get some good sounds to play surf music. For your needs I would recommend the moderately priced Paiste cymbals which these days are designated as PST7 and PST8. The cheaper Zildjian and Sabian cymbals have never sounded very good to me, these are the Sabian B8s and Zildjian ZBTs which replaced the Scimitars years ago. Cymbals are cosmicly individual instruments though and you never know when an unexpected one might present pleasing qualities. So I would definitely cruise the used cymbals at your local music stores before buying anything new. Look for rides, the largest you can find (in the lower price range these will likely not be larger than 20", but you never know when you might come across something unusual like an old Krut ride of larger diameter) with weight designations of medium or lighter. Lighter rides crash better and have the swishy overtones between hits. Heavier rides will have louder more distinct hits from the tips of the sticks. Some guys can make those cymbals work but for the most part heavier rides will sound too heavy metal due to that pronounced stick attack.

To illustrate my main recommendation, the drummer in our band plays my kit at practice but has been bringing some of his own cymbals. He chooses not to play my huge 22" Zildjian Ping Ride (a wonderful versatile, but heavy classic cymbal) and instead plays a cheap Paiste 20" that sounds much swishier and crashes better. Even though I look at the cymbal every week I can't remember which number is on it but it is not a current Paiste model designation. Although I am confident it is comparable to PST7 or PST8.

One last piece of advice; don't buy small light crashes or get into splash cymbals. Look for heavier crashes at least 18". Contrary to what one might assume, large crashes record much better due to the lower frequency overtones and longer sustain (I'm not an engineer but that's my experienced based take on it, you figure it out). You end up with sounds that mix better. Also, inverse to rides, heavy crash cymbals make better rides. And if you abuse your cymbals, the big ones don't crack as easily.

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The Vicissitones
Diesel Marine
The Rasputones

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DeathTide
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Joined: Apr 13, 2018
Posts: 1341
New Orleans
United States
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Link Posted on Feb 25 2019 09:50 AM

I’ve got an 18” crash and a 20” crash / ride. Larger or smaller just didn’t work...

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Daniel Deathtide

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da-ron
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Joined: Jan 02, 2009
Posts: 1299
The original Plymouth, UK.
United Kingdom
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Link Posted on Feb 28 2019 07:41 AM

One of our past drummer turned up to practice with a massive ride cymbal. It was bigger than his bass drum and close to the size of a flying saucer.

In use it was next to useless - it had a very washy sound that meant you couldn't distinguish the hits, and it disappeared into the background. After a few songs we asked him to put his normal ride back on.

So, don't go too big. I think that one was too big and too thin. You need something that cuts through because you're not playing much high hat.

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http://thewaterboarders.bandcamp.com/

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ElectricLimnology
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Joined: Nov 20, 2017
Posts: 104
Southeast MIchigan
United States
2 News Pins
Link Posted on Mar 01 2019 06:57 AM

I meant to mention this a couple days ago but was distracted. The ride that our drummer uses is a 20" Paiste 302. Even less expensive than I was guessing. Perhaps it is equivalent to today's PST3? Anyway it's a total econo ride that he uses instead of my $400 cymbal and it sounds great.

—

The Vicissitones
Diesel Marine
The Rasputones

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