Members Hope Drums Posted December 2, 2009 Members Share Posted December 2, 2009 I think my 20+ year love affair with Zildjian is about to come to an end....I've fallen in love with the Meinl 14" Byzance Med hi hats! I haven't had the opportunity to check out any of their other cymbals though, no dealers around me within a 4 hour drive....I like to buy by ear, but don't look like I'll have that option any time soon....so relying on info from you guys..... Have any of you tried/own any of the Byzance stuff? I'm an old school A Zildjian player, play mostly country, so I've always used Thin-Med crashes and Med rides. How does the Meinl stuff compare? If the rest of the line sounds as sweet as those hats, I'm sold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lossforgain Posted December 2, 2009 Members Share Posted December 2, 2009 Until a couple weeks ago the only thing I had owned of the Byzance line was a splash -- which was nice, but I didn't need it so I sold it. Then I got myself a very nice Byzance 20" Jazz ride, which sounds incredibly good. I'm not sure I'm going to keep it, only because I have some other similar cymbals. It's 2060g if I remember right, and plays like an awesome crash/ride. Anyone who loves a Giant Beat should check out one of these. Warm and smooth and washy but gets out of the way of the sticking when you want it to. Just in the last couple of days I got a Byzance 21" Dark ride which I believe will be my new go-to rock ride. One thing I don't like about Zildjian's Dark rides are that they seem to lose definition and sound hollow. Not this cymbal -- a nice clear note that sounds great in the mix. Used it last night at my rock band rehearsal, and was very very happy. Up until this point I was really in love with the Sabian Vault Crossover ride (also a 21) but the Byzance is much more defined and has a better sounding bell. TODAY I got in the mail a Byzance 18" Medium Thin crash. Haven't gotten to play it yet, but sounds good with fingertaps. I'll let you know, I'm in acquisition mode so I've bought several things with the idea that I would only keep the stuff that fits in with my setup the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hope Drums Posted December 2, 2009 Author Members Share Posted December 2, 2009 Keep me posted on that crash, for sure! That's one of the models I was considering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cdawg Posted December 2, 2009 Members Share Posted December 2, 2009 i've been playing a 22" thin jazz china that i cannot say enough about. it's rideable, plenty of volume, all that. it's one loud china, but you can back off and get a trashy ride sound out of it, just perfect!! i play heavy rock, but i love that i can get a bunch of different sounds out of it. first time i heard it was matt zebroski from the alex skolnick trio jammin' on it. check out some of his stuff. he's a meinl player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bodinski Posted December 2, 2009 Members Share Posted December 2, 2009 I had a Byzance 17" thin crash. It was beautiful. Very sweet but soft & delicate. Too soft for me, so I sold it. It was very nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lossforgain Posted December 3, 2009 Members Share Posted December 3, 2009 I had a Byzance 17" thin crash. It was beautiful. Very sweet but soft & delicate. Too soft for me, so I sold it. It was very nice... AWW, that sounds like one I'd like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members lossforgain Posted December 3, 2009 Members Share Posted December 3, 2009 Keep me posted on that crash, for sure! That's one of the models I was considering! PM coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ernald Posted December 3, 2009 Members Share Posted December 3, 2009 i have a whole set of Byzance. i love them. i have 14" dark hats, 20" sweet light ride, 20" extra dry ride, and 18" dark crash. all great. the 14" dark hats: dark and just a bit trashy. nice and aggressive. sound great closed and open and everywhere in between. 20" extra dry ride: so dark and sinister. nice stick, deep wash, very multi-dimensional. bell is not overpowering. 20" sweet light ride: very light. extremely washy. even the bell. i use a strip of tape on the underside to tame some of the high end overtones. crashes wonderfully. the ping is very washy in everything but very low volume situations. 18" dark crash: nice and dirty. aggressive with a relatively short decay. let's just say i don't need a china when i have this... i also own a 20" dark ride that i no longer use (since getting the 20" extra dry). it is also great. a little less dark/dry than the extra dry version. more "ping" and attack. still a great cymbal, i just prefer the extra dry.if you're interested in picking it up...PM me... anyway, that's my experience with them thus far. there's a few more i would like to get my hands on (18" extra dry crash, 20" sand ride, 14" extra dry hats, 22" extra dry ride...i could go on...18" medium thin jazz crash...) basically i'm trying to say i highly recommend their stuff! they have a wide variety of styles even within the byzance line. i'm confident you'll find something you like. -randy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JimmyNZ Posted December 3, 2009 Members Share Posted December 3, 2009 I haven't played them myself, but I saw Benny Greb in clinic earlier in the year, other than his ability to play, the one other aspect of the clinic that really stood out was how {censored}ing great his cymbals sounded...all Byzance. If I ever win Lotto, I'll buy a full set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mikestix78 Posted December 3, 2009 Members Share Posted December 3, 2009 I have an extra dry 18 crash and bennys sig. ride! Both are amazing cymbals! I also have a set of bosphorus versa 14's for hats which also sound super good..Bennys ride, to me anyway, is the most versatile ride i've ever played.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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