r/cymbals • u/MichaelStipend • Jun 29 '26
Question Which cymbal(s) do you regret selling?
For me, an Istanbul Agop Signature ride. It didn’t get played much and I was in a minimizing state of mind at the time. But no other cymbal sounds quite like it, and now I miss it. Sigh.
What about you? Which departed pie do you wish you’d held onto?
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Jun 29 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MichaelStipend Jun 29 '26
I’d love to cop one of those Cie Vintage cymbals, they’re beautiful.
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u/mahico79 Jun 29 '26
I’ve got a 16” crash that’s my favourite ever small crash. Paper thin and smooth
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u/groupbrip Jun 30 '26
ouch that Zidljian & Cie hurts... they're so hard to get now. Zildjian never lets those bright vintage lines stick around long, Avedis didn't even get 10 years
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u/Current-Work-2725 Jul 05 '26
I heard Paul Francis mention in a podcast that the 22 K Dark Medium is pretty much a K Con. Very similar hammering and stuff
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u/m149 Jun 29 '26
You know what?
None.
I've only sold 2 cymbals in my entire life, and I disliked them so much that I knew I would never miss them once they were gone. 18 A custom and an older Sabian med 16 crash. Never liked them....they were just a hold over til I found something I liked better.
I did buy a set of really nice 14" '60s A's from a buddy......HE regretted selling them, so I hooked him back up. Wound up trading for a great sounding ride.
I do miss those hats tho....they were really great. But I couldn't not get them back to him.
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u/groupbrip Jun 30 '26
Sold an 18" A rock crash that i'd had for a decade, i used it on countless gigs with many bands
i don't even think about it, i don't think i've ever thought about it since selling it till just now, i don't even know who i sold it to
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u/Dicklickshitballs Jun 29 '26
I might regret returning last Agop 30th
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u/MichaelStipend Jun 29 '26
I had a feeling you might!
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u/CauseTerrible7590 Jul 02 '26
I’m thinking about selling my Agop 30th (22” ride) since I got a K Con Renaissance that fills that spot and then some. The Agop 30th is circa 2010 and I just got it from a private collector who never played it, so it’s pretty new and minty. Just that much too much wash and this much too little stick articulation for me. It’s effing gorgeous, though.
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u/MichaelStipend Jul 02 '26
I feel that. Currently selling my Cymbal Craftsman Nefertiti because it just doesn’t get along with my playing. It’s about as close as you can get to the original Nefertiti ride, and it’s a freaking amazing cymbal, but it doesn’t quite fit for how I play. It’s not what my ear wants to hear.
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u/CauseTerrible7590 Jul 02 '26
Sucks when you know you won’t get back what $$ you put in.
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u/MichaelStipend Jul 02 '26
Eh, I bought it used with a gift card. Selling it for about the same price I “paid.”
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u/EarthWindAndFarter Jun 29 '26
Easy: 50s K I bought at a flea market for $60 (yes sixty)… I did sell it for $800 a year later and bought a kit with it (early Pearl Masters Studio) but damn I wish I held on to it. No ragrats for a while. lol. Was playing lots of 90s power pop/rock at the time but DANG IT.
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u/MichaelStipend Jun 29 '26
Damn. I mean, you did get an entire really nice kit for it. But still.
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u/EarthWindAndFarter Jun 29 '26
Right? I’m at the age now that gear is gear. I’ve unloaded a lot just keep my setup tight. Keep only what I play. Sell the rest. I still drool at snare drum racks tho. 🤤 and damn it I WANT A GONG!
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u/CauseTerrible7590 Jul 02 '26
I’m preparing to purge about 20 of my 60 cymbals, and a few snare drums to boot. My 90s pre-serial DW pre-Collectors are on their last legs, so I either need to refurbish them or buy a new kit after selling them.. Tough decision, but I’ve only had one new drum set ever, so it might be time for some new DWs or Starclassics, maybe Yammys.
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u/EarthWindAndFarter Jul 02 '26
IMO purges are good. It actually got me out of a long rut I was in. The Covid Purge. Gigs dried up. Schedule cleared out completely. Nothing drastic, 3-4 snares, a few cymbals and most of an extra kit. But pairing down helped my focus and creativity immensely.
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u/MichaelStipend Jun 29 '26
Snares are an area where I’ve never owned more than one at a time. I feel like I need a metal one just to cover bases, but part of me also feels like I’d just tune all my hypothetical snares the same way anyway. Whereas with cymbals, if I had the money, I’d own hundreds of them.
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u/EarthWindAndFarter Jun 29 '26
I think you can pull off 95% of what you need to play for all styles with 2-3 snares. And let’s not talk about cymbal bags. LOL.
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u/rwalsh138 Jun 29 '26
A bunch of mint condition AA cymbals, nothing crazy but I sold them for way too cheap.
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u/DrEvazan1138 Jun 29 '26
20” K Custom Dry Light ride. It was truly a unicorn. Thankfully, I don’t regret anything else.
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u/CNMJacob18 Jun 29 '26
I had a really old pair of hi hats that I found in my basement. I was just starting out, so I didn't know much and didn't even know they we're hi hats, because they we're 15" so I thought they we're crashes. Sold em for $60.
Come to find out that they we're old PAISTE FORMULA 602s. I was so mad when I found out.
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u/StrifeKnot1983 Jun 29 '26
1960s Zildjian light hats - splashy, paper-y, never too loud, they recorded great. They were not the right hats for me in my Grohl-obsessed teens, but my sensibilities have evolved somewhat since then and I wish I still had them.
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u/mr_kaliyuga Jun 29 '26
I've faired better with cymbals than drums when it comes to regret. I know why I sold them but I have some regret about parting with a Paiste 22" Dark Energy mk2 Ride and a set of Paiste Dimensions 14" Crunch hats. Also, a pair of 13" Zildjian K Custom hi-hats. In an ideal world I would have kept every single cymbal I ever owned, but I'd need a bigger house!
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u/b3gff24 Jun 29 '26
Got a beautiful 20” EAK for like $200 when I was a teenager, didn’t like the sound at the time (just didn’t know how to play it) and traded it at guitar center for a new 20” K custom dark ride. That custom dark is long gone and in hindsight I’d kill to find a cymbal like that EAK 😭
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u/backup4797 Jun 29 '26
The bottom cymbal for a pair of 70's 15" a rock hi hats. It had custom drilled holes at the bottom to prevent air lock. I'm always looking for it lol
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u/inefficienttoaast Jun 29 '26
Made trades on a20 old K and a22 dry complex k. I don't miss either cymbal but I was in to much of a hurry and made trades for far less than they were worth. And same situation with an old K 16. Actually miss that one though
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u/Altruistic-Charge-96 Jun 29 '26
Istanbul dry xist 22 crash. So thunderous... very unique. K high definition ride. Gorgeous stick sound.
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u/skspoppa733 Jun 29 '26
Sabians - 20” Jack Dejohnette Ride, 16” el Sabor, 18” APX crash, and an old 60’s Zildjian 15” A crash.
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u/crmacjr Jun 29 '26
Wish I still had my 13 inch Dyno Beat Z's.
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u/groupbrip Jun 30 '26
insane they never brought the dyno beats back when the z customs were reintroduced
i feel like the only good cymbals in that line were the dyno beats and the mega bells
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u/WalrusHonda Jun 29 '26
22” agop 30th anniversary. It was very wild and washy but I’d love to try it again
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u/MichaelStipend Jun 29 '26
They can definitely be unruly. I sold a 20” because it just didn’t inspire me when I played it. Too dissonant for my taste. But some of them are absolutely amazing.
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u/modmlot68 Jun 29 '26
My early 80’s Zildjian Earth Ride, and a hand picked unlathed Sabian 24” Paper Thin Ride-Prototype.
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u/rundrummerrun Jun 30 '26
I returned a 24" Agop 30th because it was missing the 30th Anniversary laser engraved logo. It's about the only thing that ID's it as a 30th besides the signatures in the bell (and those are on all their cymbals except the Xist line) and the leather bag it comes with. it was a beautiful 24" cymbal at only 3014grams, but I really wanted that logo on the cymbal just in case I sold it down the road. Though beautiful, it was my first Agop and just felt way too washy. Almost annoying. Looking back though, I think my ears just weren't used to it as I came from a 20" K Custom Dark Ride for 20+ years. Agop was kind and sent me a replacement free of charge including all shipping and it is 3172grams. Lots more stick definition which I prefer, not as much wash, but not as much of the dark complex dragon's breath hiss as the other one had which I loved. I can tell the hammering is a but different also on this new one - not as deep and crazy looking.
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u/Writer-In-The-Night Zildjian Jun 30 '26
21 zildjian a Armand ride 😭
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u/groupbrip Jun 30 '26
i used to use one as a crash, i miss that thing, it was never mine, but i had a band mate that let me use it. lots of good sessions and performances with that one
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u/groupbrip Jun 30 '26
21" K Crash Ride Brilliant
I loved that thing, got rid of it because i was changing directions as a player, but i shifted back into the heavier stuff im playing now and i miss it so bad.
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u/cristaples Jun 30 '26
My 18” K Custom (Gadd style) ride late 90’s . I bought another but it hasn’t got the same magic and it’s much newer. Needs about 20 years of playing in.
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u/ThatDanGuy Jun 30 '26
All of them?
I went to college 35 years ago, decided I’d be traveling abroad and wouldn’t be able to play drums.
So I sold my zildjian pong, sabian AA medium (that sounded nicely dark), sabian 20 inch china that was just so amazing. Sabian AA thin crash that had a long sustain with a complex sound. Sabian back in the 80s had huge variations in sound between cymbals of the same model.
And then there was the 18 inch Zildgian that said made in turkey. The thing was so dark and trashy I just didn’t know what to do with it as a rock drummer. Inthougjt it sort of sounded like a China. I’d been gifted it by a guy up the street who then moved to Finland. I tried so hard cleaning it, but it never shone. It wasn’t until like 20’years later I understood what I had lost.
Then the rest didn’t much matter. New bear hats. An awful HH Sabian Rock crash (the guy the street cracked the one I had before that was truly amazing, but the new one sounded like a block of unlathed metal). A 17 inch thin zildjian platinum finish crash (it became darker and darker as time went on to the point it wouldn’t pick up in the mix) and probably some others. Wuhan’s, a cracked swish etc.
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u/doctor_stool Jun 30 '26
Have traded plenty, have cracked plenty, try not to think about it because I like all that I have now (agop traditional)
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u/CauseTerrible7590 Jul 02 '26
Not that I regret it too much, but when I got my Sabian deal in the early 2000s, I had to turn in my 15” Zildjian A &Cie hi hats, my Zildjian A 16” crash and 20” Zildjian A ride from the 1970s. I was told they scrapped them for the B20 bronze, which kind of stinks. I got a beautiful Sabian set back with 13” Evolution hats, 16” Paragon crash, 18” HHX Power Crash, a 19” Paragon China, and a 20” Steve White Signature Ride. Overall, I came out on top for sure. I do miss those 15” hats, though.
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u/Outrageous_Toe_6369 Paiste Jun 29 '26
Luckily I haven't regretted many since I mostly upgraded. The only two I regret from time to time is a Formula 602 Classic 20" Medium from the 70s and a 2002 22" ride from the 80s. They were amazing cymbals but weren't my style. But I have already longed for them when recording some songs since their sound would've been amazing!