Sabian Legacy HHX Cymbals

GEARREVIEWS
104 RHYTHM JUNE 2006
to largish ovals, giving the cymbals
a dimpled look. The natural fi nish is
satiny rather than brightly polished.
It is a classy, understated image with
the sweeping Legacy ‘L’ logo discretely
positioned opposite the ‘HHX’ logo.
Riveting rides
First up we have two Medium Thin
20" and 21" rides. Most ride cymbals,
however fashionably dark and deep,
have a few lingering high-end overtones
that grate your teeth and leave behind
a slightly off-key hum. These two,
however, have none of that whatsoever.
This does not make them dull, though,
there is a dark, slightly trashy character
which is enormously pleasing. The two
cymbals are pretty similar but I found I
preferred the 21" example. That extra
inch gives it a slightly deeper, buttery
timbre, although the stick response
remains ultra clear. It is a great cymbal
KEY FEATURES
S
abian’s new Legacy series sees
the company’s partnership with
master drummer Dave Weckl
dig deeper into earthy, jazz-funky,
drier tones – what Dave calls the
“darker side” of his sound. The Weckl-
Sabian collaboration has previously
brought us the Evolution line. Evolution
is described as “warmer and brighter”
while Legacy is described as being
“broader, deeper, darker and trashier”.
Both lines have their roots in Sabian’s
HH (hand hammered) traditional
approach to cymbalsmithing with
the added X factor of ‘tone projection’.
Therefore HHX cymbals are HHs with
a touch of extra dirt and bite, this time
referred to as ‘tone texture’.
Except for the 22" Heavy rides, all the
Legacy cymbals are pretty lightweight.
This means they are not the loudest
cymbals on the block, but that’s not
the idea. They are subtle with a clearly
defi ned frequency spectrum rather
than being bright and obtrusive. Their
relatively thin profi le means they don’t
Sabian
Legacy HHX
Cymbals
From £143 | Legacy is the next step on from
Evolution. Geoff Nicholls joins the dark side.
ESSENTIALS
PRICES
Sabian Legacy HHXs
Hi-hats £460
Splashes £143-£180
Crashes £302-£326
Rides £375-£445
CONTACT
Arbiter Group Ltd
Atlantic House
Stirling Way
Borehamwood
Hertfordshire
WD6 2BT
Telephone
020 8207 7890
Website
www.sabian.com
The natural fi nish is satiny
rather than brightly polished.
hold a huge number of
overtones. The sound is clean and
dark with an individual character.
Although thin, there is a springy,
elastic feel to them so you get the
impression that you could
wallop them good and
proper without fearing
that they are going to
break easily. Sabian
are also obviously
confi dent on this
point since each
cymbal carries
a two-year
warranty.
Appearance-
wise they have
traditional-
looking
medium-fi ne
lathing on top and
beneath and there
are irregularly spaced
hammerings which
range from small circles
The neat ‘L’ logo
is positioned
opposite the ‘HHX’
logo, creating a
minimalist look.
Dave Weckl says
his new Legacy
cymbals help bring
out the darker side
of his sound.
RHY125.gear_sabian 0104RHY125.gear_sabian 0104 20/4/06 3:13:35 pm20/4/06 3:13:35 pm