A Zildjian 12" Extra Thin Splash
Group: Splashes
Type: Extra Thin Splash
Size: 12 Inch
Series: A Zildjian
Weight: 344g, 350g, 370g (1998 Serial Number), 382g (1998 Serial Number)
Years of production: 1998 - ?
Sound File: A Zildjian 12" Extra Thin Splash
Zildjian's Description: <<< - >>>
Review: "Splash cymbals are certainly not new to the A Zildjian line. But the popularity of such small effects cymbals has increased in recent years, largely owing to their use by Manu Katche, Tim Alexander, Stephen Perkins,and Carter Beauford. According to Zildjian, some drummers have been asking for even thinner models, because of their "cleaner, faster, livelier sound. So Zildjian got out the ol' rolling pin and came up with these Extra Thin models.
Zildjian's literature states that these splashes "combine the traditionally bright, full-bodied, and colorful sound characteristic of the A Zildjian range with a faster decay than ever before." Did our testing corroborate this claim? Well...yes and no.
The question is, which feature do you want to stress: "full-bodied" or "faster decay"? The two seem mutually exclusive. It's my understanding that a good deal of the body and sustain of a cymbal comes from the size of its bell. The bigger the bell, the greater the sustain. On the other hand, a good deal of the "splashiness" of a cymbal comes from the thickness of its bow area. The thinner the bow, the greater the splashiness.
The problem is that the Extra Thin splashes have surprisingly large bells in proportion to the rest of their diameter. This is especially apparent on the 8"model. They also have extremely thin bow areas. When the cymbal is struck, the overall "explosion" created by the bell and the bow together is, in fact, very bright and very splashy. But only the splashi-ness of the bow decays quickly. The sustained ring of the bell remains behind, giving a certain lingering "gonginess" to the sound. Oddly, this was most apparent on the 10" model. (I would have expected it to be more obvious on the 8" model.) The 12"cymbal didn't have quite such a problem, because there was a greater amount of bow area in propor-tion to the bell.
The bell shape and size on these cymbals is probably the same as that used on Zildjian's other, very successful A splashes. But the company has reduced the thickness of the bow area significantly on the Extra Thin models. Perhaps a corresponding reduction of the bell size would keep the bell's contribution from overpowering the rest of the cymbal's sound."
Review written by Rick Van Horn ("Product Close-up - New Zildjian Cymbals", Modern Drummer, March 1999, pp.52-53)
Artist/song where it can be heard:
