SABIAN PLAYERS' CHOICE CYMBALS

| JULY 2012 WWW.RHYTHMMAGAZINE.CO.UK
112
GEAR REVIEW
B
right marketing idea from
Canada’s fi nest: let you, the
player, decide which new model
cymbals sound best and should
be put into production. Sabian’s Players’
Choice initiative saw 12 new models demo’d
last winter by top Sabian endorsees like
Bozzio, Weckl and Portnoy. Sabian fans were
then invited to take part in a web-based
knockout competition and the four models
left standing are the ones we have here
for review.
Build
Each of the original 12 cymbals involved a
new concept brought to life by Sabian’s Vault
artisans. They are all pro models and the four
winners are a ride, china, crash and hats.
The 20" AAX Stadium ride is medium-
heavy with a large un-lathed bell and
“bridges the gap between the AAX Stage and
Metal rides”. The name of the 14" HHX Click
hats refers to Sabian’s contention that they
have an electronic click-track quality. They
combine the high-profi le shape of the AA
series with HH and HHX hammering, have
fully-lathed bottoms but only half-lathed tops.
The 20" HHX Zen china has an unusual
convoluted profi le with a normal round bell,
allowing it to be played the usual way up (not
inverted like most chinas). And the rim is
bent down for easy crashing and riding. It’s
traditionally hand-hammered but also has
extra HHX-style hammering to fl atten out the
playing surface next to the bell.
The 18" AAX Aero crash is so-named
because it is full of holes. I make it 19 rows of
four small holes radiating from the centre to
the edge. It was inspired by Sabian’s Holy
Crash (review to come) rather than the now
familiar O-Zone series with its much larger
holes. For added projection the cymbal has
an AAX X-Plosion raw bell. There are also 16"
and 20" Aero crashes, also Players’ Choice
winners, but not reviewed here.
Hands On
It’s important to state again that each of
these four cymbals is a one-off model, not
(yet) representative of any new series. More
fun to review then, but more likely to be of
specialist application.
From £285 Four brand new and wildly different Sabian one-offs,
the winners of Sabian’s online player selection scheme
SABIAN PLAYERS’
CHOICE CYMBALS
WORDS: GEOFF NICHOLLS
STADIUM RIDE
Ride is said to “bridge the
gap between the AAX
Stage and Metal rides”
Also try…
1
ZILDJIAN K
CUSTOM HYBRID
HATS
We say: “These are
fi ne cymbals which
reward a musical,
inventive touch.”
2
MEINL
GENERATION X
CHINA CRASH
We say: “An energetic
blurring of the
boundaries between
the punctuation of
a crash and the
exoticness of a china.”
Zen implies inscrutable and the 20" HHX
china is more subtle and sweet, less trashy
and more musical than many chinas. Which
means that if you ride it by walloping the edge
with strong quarter notes (the way chinas are
often assailed these days) the result is a more
harmonious racket than is usual. The way it
sits on the stand makes it easy to ride, as well
as in a more studied stick-tip manner if you
prefer. The overall sound is full-bodied, but it’s
deep, warm and smooth for a china.
If the china goes ‘tang’ the
Stadium ride goes ‘tssss’. The
stick tip response is beautifully
crisp, yet quite high-pitched thus thin
and piercing. Somewhat disembodied
from this there’s a warmer and spreadier
background wash. The ride responds well to
playing quite hard as does the bell which is big
and un-lathed. You need to catch this near its
base with a well-aimed glancing blow from the
stick shaft to get the stadium-best out of it.
THE 18” AAX AERO IS A FAST
REACTING BRIGHT AND SPLASHY
CRASH WHICH WILL ADD STARTLING
NEW COLOUR TO ANY SET-UP
RHY204.gear_sabian.indd 112 5/15/12 9:51:00 AM