Cymbal Modifications

Most modern cymbal manufacturers crank out hundreds if not thousands of cymbals at a given time. Some also use large machines to press and hammer each cymbal blank in the same manner. This means that they don’t spend the time fine tuning a cymbal to ensure it sounds its best. Cymbals are incredibly complex instruments with more overtones than just about any other instrument. Even if you hear a cymbal on a video and order the same model, you’ll find that it will sound different. There may be frequencies that are unpleasant to the ear. It may be higher/lower pitched than you thought. It may be too mellow or too aggressive. This is why we offer custom cymbal mods. I have owned hundreds of cymbals in my time as a professional musician and have relentlessly pursued the “perfect cymbal”. While I’ve come to learn that the “perfect cymbal” doesn’t exist, I’ve also come to a deep understanding of how to draw out the best in a particular cymbal. You can’t approach 2 cymbals the same way. Each one has a unique response to the lathe and the hammer, and knowing how to bring the best out of each one is not an easy task. It is, however, incredibly rewarding to craft the sound into something more musical and functional. This often means lowering or raising the fundamental pitch, removing weird overtones that dominate the cymbal, opening up the crash of cymbals that are too “pingy” or “thick” sounding, and modifying/repairing cymbals that may have cracks or damage. Let us know if you have that one cymbal that isn’t quite there, and we’ll make sure it becomes the one cymbal that never leaves your bag.