Hey Guys!
I don't know why this is happening because I mount my cymbals almost parallel to the ground and don't hit hard, but ever since I've started playing with this new band and putting my cymbals on the guitar player's kit, I've noticed that my ride cymbal is freaking out. It seems like putting my ride on his set twice has resulted in almost a 2mm long keyhole and the beginnings of slight fractures around the hole. My cymbal is a run of the mill 80's 20" A Zildjian Medium Ride that I got used for $40, but I like it and want to stop the damage where it's at.
I was thinking that I might be able to get a grommet of the variety they put in marching cymbals to reinforce the hole. Has anyone had any experience with that type of a fix? I know that usually the solution for cymbal cracks is to drill a hole at the end of the crack, but for obvious reasons, I can't do that near the mounting hole when the cracks are tiny.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Will
cymbal problem--any ideas?
Cymbal Crack
Hey FW,
If the cracks are very short you can file them out from the hole. I kow that this will add to the 'keyhole' effect but you could save the cymbal and fileing on the hole will have much less effect than if the cracks were on the edge.
2 questions:
1) Does the cymbal stand have any sort of rubber/plastic sleeve on it or is the hole resting agaist a plain metal post? If it is just metal it is worth the 2-cent piece of plastic you need to help protect your cymbal! I can't imagine this is happening with a plastic sleeve in place. My guess is it is resting not only against metal but metal with threads, a majr no-no for cymbal care, and it will cause problems even with the cymbal parallel to the floor!
2) I know you said you only played on this kit twice, but, did you leave the cymbals there? Or are they normaly setup where soeone else uses them? Just because you play lightly doesn't mean that someone else hasn't come along and thrashed on your cymbal for a while if it has been available to others. Don't want to make you paranoid but it does happen.
Hope this is helpfull
John
If the cracks are very short you can file them out from the hole. I kow that this will add to the 'keyhole' effect but you could save the cymbal and fileing on the hole will have much less effect than if the cracks were on the edge.
2 questions:
1) Does the cymbal stand have any sort of rubber/plastic sleeve on it or is the hole resting agaist a plain metal post? If it is just metal it is worth the 2-cent piece of plastic you need to help protect your cymbal! I can't imagine this is happening with a plastic sleeve in place. My guess is it is resting not only against metal but metal with threads, a majr no-no for cymbal care, and it will cause problems even with the cymbal parallel to the floor!
2) I know you said you only played on this kit twice, but, did you leave the cymbals there? Or are they normaly setup where soeone else uses them? Just because you play lightly doesn't mean that someone else hasn't come along and thrashed on your cymbal for a while if it has been available to others. Don't want to make you paranoid but it does happen.
Hope this is helpfull
John
-
FW
Thanks for the filing tip!
You know John, I can't imagine it either...it's just happening! The stands have nylon sleeves and I take the cymbals home after practice. It's very strange.
In the past year, I've grown away from crash cymbals and usually play with just 2-3 rides and a hi hat, and I wonder if crashing a cymbal that big and heavy is having an effect.
My only other hunch is that these cracks have been there ever since I bought the cymbal five years ago, but they were microscopic and have just spread over time. I don't know where the keyholing is coming from, though. It must just be that one part of the cymbal is far heavier than the rest--like I said, I mount the cymbal virtually flat and I use nylon sleeves, and I'm a light hitter--I never "play through" my drums or cymbals; I kind of whip the heads and glance the cymbals.
Weird story by the way--I just read in Modern Drummer online that Hal Blaine used to use a rat tail file to deliberately keyhole his cymbals so they'd hang at angles back in the days when cymbal stands didn't tilt. I'm curious when stands didn't tilt, though...I thought tilting cymbal stands were standard even in the 50's.
Thanks!
Will
You know John, I can't imagine it either...it's just happening! The stands have nylon sleeves and I take the cymbals home after practice. It's very strange.
In the past year, I've grown away from crash cymbals and usually play with just 2-3 rides and a hi hat, and I wonder if crashing a cymbal that big and heavy is having an effect.
My only other hunch is that these cracks have been there ever since I bought the cymbal five years ago, but they were microscopic and have just spread over time. I don't know where the keyholing is coming from, though. It must just be that one part of the cymbal is far heavier than the rest--like I said, I mount the cymbal virtually flat and I use nylon sleeves, and I'm a light hitter--I never "play through" my drums or cymbals; I kind of whip the heads and glance the cymbals.
Weird story by the way--I just read in Modern Drummer online that Hal Blaine used to use a rat tail file to deliberately keyhole his cymbals so they'd hang at angles back in the days when cymbal stands didn't tilt. I'm curious when stands didn't tilt, though...I thought tilting cymbal stands were standard even in the 50's.
Thanks!
Will