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Zildjian ZBT A Beginner Drummer Reviews Beginner Cymbals

by Robert Soaft
(Springfield, Misssouri)

When I first started to play drums approximately a year ago, I knew how to buy a drum set; spend as much as you can afford.

That was the advice I was given and it worked for me. I bought a Yamaha Stage Custom set, and with upgraded heads they sound great. Just the way I think drums should sound.

However, cymbals were a different matter. I was clueless about them. For some reason I never picked up on them the way I did drums through reading numerous magazines and repeated trips to the local drum shops.

Everyone readily talked about drum shell thickness, number of laminations, wood species, bevel degrees, lugs, hoops etc. And that was great but when it came to the cymbals, the other very important half of the kit, nothing was said.

So, I assumed there wasn't much to know and thought about it like this...why would someone spend $2000 for a Gibson guitar when they could spend $1000 for an Epiphone and still come out sounding just fine to most peoples ears?

When buying my cymbals, I didn't follow the drum set advice (i.e buy the best you can afford) and instead opted for a beginner set of Zildjian ZBT cymbals.

Now, a year later I realise that was a big mistake! I've since received good advice from a British drum magazine, and that is (and I quote approximately) "don't waste your money, you'll be tired of the Zildjian ZBT cymbals after five minutes".

I've since learned what good cymbals sound like, and they don't sound like mine. Though I have developed some tricks to coax a barely tolerable sound out of them, but that is no way to play.

The gist of it is, yeah stamped budget cymbals are better than no cymbals, just as a $199 drum kit is better than no drums.

So learn from my mistake and spend as much time messing with cymbals as you did with drums. Take a stick into the cymbal room and ping away. Then after you've done a lot of that pick up a budget one and have a listen. You'll want to save your money too.

Robert Soaft.

Check here for deals on Zildjian ZBT cymbals.

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