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A broad palette of cymbals for the cash-strapped player.

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• Review

Swiss cymbalsmith company Paiste produces a mind-boggling array of pro-level cymbals to cover just about every musical genre. The company also endeavours to provide a similar (if not equal) spectrum of sizes and weights a little further down the food chain. This is the case for its all-new PST ranges, which have been designed to offer younger, less experienced, or simply cash-strapped players a broad palette of cymbals from which to choose.

These include different thicknesses and a good selection of sizes, including odd-number diameters, a feature that is rarely found in budget territory. PST stands for Paiste Sound Technology, which is fitting, as Paiste has always embraced hi-tech production methods with enthusiasm. The production of the new ranges is undertaken at Paiste's factory in Germany.

The company claims that new digital technology has enabled it to improve standards in sound quality and appearance at this end of the market. All of Paiste's manufacturing knowledge and sound concepts, not to say legendary reputation for consistency, seem to have travelled well.

All change

The PST range is split into two lines, numbered simply PST 3 and PST 5. The two sets replace Paiste's 302, 502 and 802 ranges. As with the previous ranges, the new PST lines are budget rather than beginners' cymbals, sitting above Paiste's entry-level 101 and 201 series.

The PST 5 cymbals are easily distinguishable from their PST 3 siblings by virtue of their reddish-brown (as opposed to yellowish) colour. This is due to the fact that they are made from the same bronze alloy as Paiste's classic 2002 cymbals. It would also explain the contrast in the prices of the two ranges.

When comparing the PST 5 cymbals with a genuine 2002 cymbal, we found that the colours didn't quite match perfectly, although we were comparing a fairly stick-marked, road-weary example to a new, unblemished cymbal. There are also manufacturing distinctions between the two that could well throw up different nuances in colour.

Whereas 2002 cymbals are cast individually and then beaten from a raw ingot into cymbals, the PST cymbals are cut from sheets of the 2002 alloy, then worked. A familiar trait of all budget cymbals is that they are only available in the most popular sizes. The PST 5 range does not revert to type here, offering the sort of choice that you would expect to find a little further up the price ladder.

Among the cymbals are 10 crashes, three pairs of hi-hats and four ride cymbals, as well as a pair each of chinas and splashes. The cymbals are separated by weight as well as diameter, particularly in the crashes.

All the PST 5 cymbals have been fashioned and tuned in a roughly comparable manner. Regular hammering patterns are more visible from below, while on top, widely spaced grooves of lathing score into a bed of tighter and shallower banding.

The Rock models differ slightly in that the deeper lathing stops short of the bell. The chinas meanwhile, bear intense lathing on both sides up to the curve of the lip, at which point similarly concentrated hammering takes over.