Sabian Legacy HHX Cymbals

GEARREVIEWS
JUNE 2006 RHYTHM 105
Dave Weckl is one of the drumming world’s most fastidious
artists, and – in the nicest possible way – a real fusspot when
it comes to sounds. Just the sort of bloke a cymbal company needs
to help develop their ranges. I can’t see him casting about in the dark
saying, “How about if it sounded a bit more orange, man?”. I’m sure
Dave knows exactly what he’s after, and after several years spent
testing prototypes – live and in the studio – the results are mostly
superb. The hi-hats were the only disappointment for me – overall
the Legacy range is beautifully defi ned, crisp, dark and responsive.
Top draw cymbals with a bias towards softer and
darker sounds yet nonetheless lightning fast.
I wasn’t convinced that the soft, deep
sound worked that well for the hi-hats.
★★★★★
RATING
for crash-riding too. I particularly
liked the way in which the fl at
shoulder of the stick on the broad
shoulder of the cymbal gave it a sizzling
attack, melting perfectly into the bell,
with its harmonious tone.
The 20" O-Zone ride is essentially
the same cymbal as the 20" Thin ride
but it features fi ve 1
1
/2" diameter holes
cut into one side. These make the sound
even drier, slightly darker and defi nitely
trashier, while the already fairly clipped
sustain is even shorter. It is undoubtedly
a specialist cymbal, but one which you
can have a great time playing around
with, assuming of course that you are
in a position where you can afford such
a luxury.
The 22" Heavy ride is indeed
markedly heavier than the previous
trio. This results in a brighter, higher
pitch, though it is still fairly dark by
the standards set by most heavy ride
cymbals. The bell is correspondingly
elevated in pitch, and sounds pingier.
Also included for review was a Heavy
22" with three small rivets fi tted close
together. It always amazes me how just
one small rivet can increase the sustain
of a cymbal by quite so much. In this
case the three little rivets gave the
massive cymbal an extra shimmer,
but not so much that it detracted from
the overall sound.
Crashes and splashes
There are just two crashes in the range,
a 17" and an 18". They are both fast and
clean, offering a swift interjection in the
music without taking up a lot of space in
the frequency spectrum. The overtones
again are minimal so that these cymbals
won’t impede the fl ow or bleed over
every other instrument. They are
almost electronic in their clarity.
The cymbals being thin, the sound
dies pretty quickly, so they are great for
use in fast, jazzy tunes where a nimble
fl ick of the wrist provides just the
exclamation mark needed without
overpowering proceedings. Since they
are quite dark and soft, they can also
be tickled and prodded in order to add
subtle colours and beautiful sounds at
lower dynamics. But do not get the
impression these cymbals are mere
softies. They can be played hard to
produce a sharp and forceful edge
with a fast decay.
Fast and perky
There are also two splashes on offer
as part of the Legacy series, a 10" and
a 12". The lathing and hammering on
these two little fellas is subtle, barely
noticeable. The 10" is extraordinarily
fast and perky with a high after-tone
which aids projection, while the 12"
sounds deeper and fuller.
The 14" hi-hats have a
heavy bottom and a light top.
The latter results in a closed sound
which I found verging on the lacklustre,
lacking in cut. Likewise, the pedalled
‘chick’ sound is soft-tinged and relatively
quiet. In fact, I found I had to be extra
careful to set a sharp angle on the
bottom cymbal in order to get enough
of a pedalled clash between the two
cymbals to hear anything at all. That’s
the price you pay for the dark sound.
As usual though, when opened up and
played with the shoulder of the stick
there’s a much louder, but still warm,
burst of sound.
RHY125.gear_sabian 0105RHY125.gear_sabian 0105 20/4/06 3:13:58 pm20/4/06 3:13:58 pm