Cymbal Repairs / Mods

Re: Is there any way you can mend a cracked cymbal!!!!

here is a diagram i drew.
i have also found that with a repaired cymbal it is a good idea to actually give it a small keyhole so that the repaired side is most likely to face away from your stick. with a radial repair like this, so long as the crack was small and not larger than 2cm then the sound of the cymbal will not be drastically changed.

j

 
Re: Is there any way you can mend a cracked cymbal!!!!

Bro Nutha Jason

That was very great info for all of us...thks man !
 
Re: Is there any way you can mend a cracked cymbal!!!!

Dependent upon the type of crack it is, you might be able to get a replacement from the company, especially a larger company like Paiste. But they will only send you a replacement if the crack is a result of a manufacturing flaw. Generally, this is when a crack occurs on a lathing line or one of the hammer grooves. And in this case it usually takes very little toll on the sound of the cymbal. This happened with my friend's UFIP (I believe it was UFIP anyways) splash and the thing still rang out beautifully after getting a crack around the lathing line.

One thing I would not recommend trying to do, which about 75% of the drummers I know try first is to solder a cracked cymbal. First of all, the result will look messy and second of all, it will not do a single thing for the sound really (unless there was a buzz or vibration resulting from the crack), but this will not give the cymbal the sustain, volume, and depth it once had. When alloys and metals are cut and sculpted into a defined shape like a cymbal, one of the key factors in producing the sound is based around the concept of stress. It is kind of like a ticking time bomb because sometimes the right hit in the right place will cause all this stress to be released on one concentrated area across the cymbal's surface. The bright side is that the cymbal is 100% less likely to crack again once it is cracked. Thus, if you like the sound of the cymbal post-cracking, chances are you won't have to worry about being delicate with that cymbal and compromising the sound.

Also if the cymbal sounds nothing like it did initially and you hate the sound of it you have two other options. You can sell it. Surprisingly, there are a lot of guys out there in search of cracked cymbals for obscure projects. Like cutting them into weird shapes and using them to piggyback with other cymbals. I've seen some cracked cymbals go for as much as $50! The second option is probably a bit more useful. You can cut down the cymbal into a smaller splash or just use the bell and make your own ice bell (pending that the crack is not on the bell). This way no cracked cymbal goes to waste! If you have hook-ups with someone that works at a machine shop talk you could ask them to do it on their lunch break or if you can find the machinery to do it you can do it yourself. A guy my Dad worked with once made three ice bells out of three cracked cymbals I bought for $5. The result was awesome, The cut was perfectly circular and he even cleaned up the edge where the cut occurred. The cymbal looked like a brand new ice bell and it sounded awesome. This was a temporary fix for me until I saved up about $80 to buy a real Sabian Stage Ice Bell. The best part about this too is how I came up with the money. I ended up selling the three homemade ice bells (two smaller ones for $25 and the bigger one for $30). Thus, in the end I basically got an $80 bell for $5 (initial cost for the cracked cymbals).

Hence you can always profit of what you may think is old junk. All you need is the right skills and tools and sometimes the right perspective.

Best of luck with the cracked cymbal! You have lots of options and directions with it.

-Brent
 
Re: Is there any way you can mend a cracked cymbal!!!!

thank you all! that diagram is great!!!!!!!! i hope the cymbal lasts long enough 4 me to get some dosh in!!! thanks..... i beta become a lighter metal player!!!!!! other wise im gona go bust!!! haha thanks all!!!
check out my band web site 4 pics of me and the drums.... www.nochaa.tk
 
Re: Is there any way you can mend a cracked cymbal!!!!

Hmmmmm......Try drilling holes on each end of the crack to keep it from getting bigger. As for the crack itself theres really nothing you can do to fix it 100%.
 
cracked cymbals

I was browsing ebay and I decided to buy a cracked 17" Paiste 2002 custom. From what I understand, the cymbal costs about 300 new.. I am fairly new to drums, but I bought it for $30 (inc shipping) considering I had some extra money to spend and i was curious, so i'm not too concerned if this small investment is a waste

anyway.. I am curious if anyone has used cracked cymbals because I hear depending on the crack size and location you can get a pretty cool sound that doesn't let you feel guilty about playing w/ a cracked cymbal. I also bought a new pair of Zildjian ZBT Plus high hats.. can't wait til i get 'em all!.. now i need a dbl bass pedal
 
Re: cracked cymbals

Since January I've cracked a ride cymbal (1.5 inch crack), a crash (two 5 or 6 inch cracks), and a splash (four .5 to 1.5 inch cracks), as well as warping the hell out of another crash.

This is all from me just beating the hell out of them I guess, so I guess I would know a bit about cracked cymbals from my experiences.

With cracked cymbals, depending on the size of the crack(s), you usually get a sizzly kind of sound. The cymbals will also become quietter and less sensitive, which is a pain for a crash or ride.

But if you can deal with that and you like the weird sounds you can get, then all the power to you.
 
Re: cracked cymbals

Dill X said:
Since January I've cracked a ride cymbal (1.5 inch crack), a crash (two 5 or 6 inch cracks), and a splash (four .5 to 1.5 inch cracks), as well as warping the hell out of another crash.

This is all from me just beating the hell out of them I guess, so I guess I would know a bit about cracked cymbals from my experiences.

With cracked cymbals, depending on the size of the crack(s), you usually get a sizzly kind of sound. The cymbals will also become quietter and less sensitive, which is a pain for a crash or ride.

But if you can deal with that and you like the weird sounds you can get, then all the power to you.

Trust me, that gets old quick. Buy brand new cymbals with a one or two year warranty. I am pretty sure Sabian's HHX line gets a two year warranty. They are very good at honoring the warranty as well. There really isn't much you can do with a broken cymbal. I know people say they sound weird and cool but to me when a drummer plays live with a broken cymbal it sound like they are playing with a broken cymbal.
 
Re: cracked cymbals

Right. If you want trashy cheap noises you can buy little thin cooking bowls for about NZ$2 (so about a buck or less in the US) from cheapo bargain-basement stores. They sound about as good as a broken cymbal does, and they have the advantage that for US$30 you can buy... well.. thirty of them.

You do have to tolerate the odd looks from the shop owner when you insist on trying all of the ones in the store out in order to get a good range of pitches though. He was constantly reassuring me that they're all of high standard, I think he thought I was testing for manufacturing defects or something. I kept telling him - I just want a nice range of sounds!
 
Re: cracked cymbals

How the hell do you crack a cymbal?





I’ve broken sticks, skins, pedals (all down doing having s**** technique) and even bass amps and a couple of PA’s but I’ve never cracked a cymbal in over 16 years...am I lucky? I dunno....I’ve always been playing zildjians. I like the sound. I don't have a light touch...what the hell are you guys doing?



..and nutha jason have you really cut down a 16" to a 14"ever, it would be pretty hard to get right wouldn't it...I used to do a little bit of metal work - and using tin snips was hard - well at least I found it hard...(good theory/pic though).
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Re: cracked cymbals

the splash in the bottom pic i made by cutting a 14'' bottom hat down using tin snips and sand paper.




sorry about the quality but these are old photos.

cymbal damage can occour in a variety of ways. my last damage came from setting my crash too low so that it hit on the wing nut of my splash stand (not on this kit above).
also cymbals can be damaged in transit. sudden temperature changes or minute imperfections in the cymbal that grow inside the metal invisibly and then appear suddenly. after all good technique or not we do hit 'em.

j
 
Re: cracked cymbals

nutha ???

so you can setup your cymbals wrong

but wat is de good setup??? at what kind of degree must the stick hit and thing like that

rockzilla
 
Re: cracked cymbals

I've never cracked a cymbal, so I don't have a solution.

Oh wait, yes I do. Here is my diagram on how to mend a broken cymbal:

(scroll down)
.....
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
...
.
.

.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
brokencymbalsolution.jpg


(j/k nutha, nice work)
 
Re: cracked cymbals

no wonder i didn't get any replies.. 'cracked cymbals' was already a topic! wow took me 4 days to figure that one out :x
 
Re: cracked cymbals

Want to see my first and cracked cymbal I'll post up a pic but It's a very cheap cymbal It's the first cymbal I've ever owned......
 
Back
Top