Saluda cymbals

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hayden
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 11:56 am
Location: australia

Saluda cymbals

Post by hayden »

Hi all, I just ordered 3 fairly unique bells from the Saluda cymbal company. I am highly reluctant to purchase any more expensive, standard cymbals without first playing them, but the bells were cheap and individual enough to warrant the gamble.

10" SALUDA MIST SIZZLE DISC - EFFECTS BELL, has 3 rivets, apparently rides quite well.

6" SALUDA EXPRESSIONS BELL, apparently directly comparable to the Zilbell, has a raw, dirty finish underneath the bell.

3.5" SALUDA SALBAL MINI BELL, used as a chime, or placed inside bottom hi-hat to achieve a sizzle effect that changes with the position of the hihats - quite subtle when closed, or in stacks.

Does anybody have any experience with this company? I will post reports on these bells after I have received them.

http://www.saludacymbals.com/

Hayden.
hayden
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 11:56 am
Location: australia

Post by hayden »

Follow up:

Salbell mini 3.5 inch bell - bells dynamics are so soft that it is impractical for use as such - would have to be between small rubber washes, say, and struck with a triangle beater to get a soft sound. Bell works great when used upside down in bottom hi-hat and adds lots of presence to the hi-hat sound, making it generally sloshier and fatter. For the money spent on that one it was worth it, because it was quite cheap.

6 inch bell, - loud, and lengthy sustain, hi pitched bell, pretty standard, no potential to ride. Not a fantastic bell, but certainly worthy of adding to the sound pallet.

10 inch disc bell - this is a very interesting cymbal, it looks like a flat splash cymbal, but is much heavier, and very thick. The bell itself retains a lot of malleability which seems quite strange to me, mildly over-zealous striking of the bell caused minor dents. But nonetheless, this cymbal has a fantastic sound. The three rivets add a modest amount of sizzle, and the re is lots of potential to ride and crash. The bell sound on the bell itself is great, for a softer groove, laid-back groove, as it is slightly subdued, and has 'misty' slightly sizzly sounds added to it.

I am now employing this cymbal as the top hi-hat, but with the hi-hat open fairly wide, makes a highly useful sizzle ride, or bell. The small 3.5 bell is in underneath, adding some extra slosh noise. Bottom hat is a regular generic splash of same size. I am much more satisfied with this than the same sized equivalent of two standard generic splashes.

Some of these cymbals were sold as prototypes, and this small cymbal company seems to be highly experimental, in terms of their progressive range of products, and custom making. I was pleased with the price of all the products I purchased, and the 10inch 3 rivet disc bell was absolutely brilliant. I'd be reluctant to buy more expensive standard cymbals without being able to hear them first. I'd probably even put thought in the big 3 cymbal companies as well, but if anyone is interested in custom cymbal jobs, it may be worth chatting to these guys, not to mention that many of their smaller cymbals and prototypes make interesting cocktail kit additions.

Hayden.
zimbop
Posts: 113
Joined: Sun Aug 12, 2007 1:19 am
Location: Albuquerque

Post by zimbop »

Saluda has a zillion different cymbal lines, making these bells hard to find on their web site. What series are they in? I found some bells under "espressions" but I can't find the 10" flat one you mentioned.
hayden
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 11:56 am
Location: australia

Post by hayden »

Apparently that is because they are prototypes and not currently in any lines - even though the disc bell is meant to be part of the mist series. These can all be found on their eBay auctions however.

These guys also make plain drum shells, if you check out the other section of their site, or on the following eBay store:

http://stores.ebay.com.au/DRUM-GEAR-ONL ... ms-Cymbals

They don't appear to have any cymbals listed at the moment.

Cheers,

Hayden.
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