I have a thing for cymbals that are made mostly by hand. I know it's shallow of me somewhat to reject the more consistent and popular cymbals that are made using machines mostly, but for some reason I just don't look in the direction of Zildjian, Sabian, Paiste etc anymore when I go cymbal shopping. I found handcrafted cymbals to be cheaper, more surprising, and interesting.I've saved a lot of money buying them on sales and with deep discounts from small drum stores. On the other hand, I can't buy them online cheaper because of their inconsistency. I've also found that some sales people look down on them.

Me: I would like to look at that Stagg VB 16 inch crash please.
*sales person puts it on a stand, gives it a bash*
Salesperson: Hey this sounds good for a Stagg!
Me: Yeah that's a really smart thing to say in front of a customer.
Sales person: Well I just find Stagg to be very oriental mumble mumble blargh...

The people in the same store also spoke shit about Bosphorus (they don't sell Bosphorus cymbals) while speaking highly of Wuhan. Anyway, vote bitches.

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I don't know the difference. How can you tell which was made by machine and what was made by hand?

With cymbal sound, I'm still kind of ignorant to what makes it sound good. I'm just looking for what sounds good without asking why.

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Well, handmade cymbals tend to be less consistent, cheaper, and they look hammered. The more widespread brands of cymbals tend to be machine made, and the less-popular brands (Ufip, Bosphorus, Stagg, Anatolian, Istanbul, etc) are handmade.

In respects to sound, they're just as good if not better than machine made cymbals, but they have the advantage of a lower price. I don't know why I formed my personal bias (well I do... I'm unemployed and I pay for my own drum gear). I'm just curious if anyone else has a similar bias for whatever reason.

Don't really care if a cymbal is made by a machine or by hand, all that matters to me is the sound...and the price tag.

Ok, the poll question is "What kind of cymbals do you play?" not "what kind of cymbals do you prefer"... So vote bitches

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At your service.

Normally i'll have an Istanbul cymbal in a short while, straight from...Istanbul.

Yes go Istanbul! I am looking at getting an Istanbul Agor ride, around 1/3 of the price of the machine made counterparts brand new. It's pretty sexy.

I look for two things with cymbals; Good sound, and above all, durability. What's the point of having a good sounding cymbal if it's gonna break in a year? I do hit my cymbal's hard, but I've learned where not to hit it (directly on the edge instead of hitting it with your stick at an angle) and to adjust the cymbal to where it won't bounce around so much that I end up hitting the edge directly but so it's not choked, which is I think where you wanna get it set. But if a cymbal still breaks, screw how good it sounds or how cheap or expensive it is because you'd have to pay more to get it repaired or replaced.

My first set of cymbals were Sabian B8's. I had them for about 2 years and then one of my crashes got cracked, and I noticed subtle hints of cracking in the hole of the other crash (my fault because for a while, I had it on a stand without a stopper on it so it would grind against the metal of the stand when I hit it. Not smart). Had to send all my cymbals that were in that pack (I was left with a splash and a china. Then I had to buy a whole new set of cymbals that have so far remained undamaged for about 3 years now. I was able to get my money back for the old set, but my new set of cymbals (Zildian A-series crash, ride, hi hat, and a free splash) didn't replace all the cymbals I had and I had to buy another crash (A-custom).

So, moral of the story; don't shop for drum equipment in Guitar Center or any music industry corporate-driven store, and make sure you get a good sounding cymbal that's very durable.

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Yeah machine made + price =

Currently I play mostly machine cymbals. I like Hand Hammered cymbals alot more than machine hammered. Hand Hammered hi-hats and rides are the shit but I prefer machine hammered for crashes. Fits the music I play better.

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people dont recognize istanbul,bosophorus and constantinople produce better ART

meaning the cymbals look alot cooler.


i used to hate them because the marketing is bullshit, the ancient techniques are bullshit and the end result is just an abused and artfully lathed cymbal.

edit:style over substance

i however own a 20" dark ride istanbul agop, it fuggin rules so im more chill about this. i bought this cymbal because it suits my doom metal band. if i was still playing grind i wouldnt of got it.

i owned many 20" old zildjian rides,hihats thats my bread and butter


vintage machine made,dirty, old ass cymbals


the kind that been stick hammered for much longer than istanbul been in business.

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I play Zildjian & Sabian so I guess I'm all machine made.

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Sabians HH and HHX lines are hand hammered. I'm not sure if Zildjian has hand hammered lines though, I'm pretty sure the K's are.

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i cant tell a whole lot of difference i got a sab hand hammered splash that kicks ass but thats my only hand hammered the only difference i hear is when you buy the cheap cheap shit like the zil. zbts or sab. B8s stay away from that shit

Hand Hammered doesn't count as handmade

I bought a secondhand Ufip Experience Series ride off my teacher. It's somewhat washy, but still nice for what I'm doing, and the bell sound is BIIIIIG.

I use Zildjian and Paiste, So machine-made.

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i heard Ufip is really good, i dont think ive even seen one, let alone heard what they sound like.

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