MusicRadar

• Review
• Manufacturer's Description

The A Customs were originally developed by Zildjian with input from Vinnie Colaiuta to add a bright and modern edge to the classic A Zildjian sound. They were a great success, and Zildjian extended the range with seven more crashes. Described as medium weight, they are in fact the heaviest A Customs so far, which means they are louder and higher pitched than previous models, and are more practical for many hard-hitters of today.

 

However, there is a potential contradiction here because the original idea for the A Customs was that they were thin cymbals, which harked back to '40s-style A Zildjians. So presumably there's a limit to how heavy Zildjian can make A Customs before they lose their raison d'etre? Luckily, so far as we can judge, this batch doesn't seem to have passed that limit, as they retain a quick response, particularly when they are struck firmly, and unleash plenty of volume with no sign of choking.

 

The heightened pitch is definitely noticeable and the overall impression is of a bright, glassy crash followed by a smooth, medium length decay.

 

Worth the weight?

 

The smaller cymbals (14" and 15") are quick-responding, and despite the extra weight, the characteristically bright A Custom timbre makes them almost splash-like.

We particularly liked the 16" and 17" crashes, as they retained the speed of response while giving more volume. These are real, full-bodied crashes, but they never lose their clarity. For the crashes above this size, the extra weight starts to make more of an impression.

 

We found the 18" a little clangy - it seemed to have lost some of the transparency and grace of the 17". I found it to be a similar case for the 19", but this is a relatively big crash, for which you probably leave more space in the music, to allow the full tone to emerge. Despite this filling out, the bigger crashes (19" and 20") still responded nimbly. And the 19" was noticeably faster than the 20", which felt more than a mere inch bigger as it had a surprisingly deeper pitch.

 

As an added bonus, both the 19" and 20" have big, clean-sounding bells, ideal for riding on. In fact, we thought the 20" made a great all-round ride cymbal as well as a big-hearted crash. Being medium weight it readily falls into that once-popular category of crash-ride.

 

To sum up, these new A Customs have certain consistencies throughout the range, but they also change in some other characteristics as they increase in size. As a result, make sure you select with care.

 

Half crash, half gong

 

Wow! The 20" Z Custom Projection crash is definitely a crash, with a shrill and bright attack, but it's followed by a massive, deep, gong-like whoosh. It is very oriental-sounding with shades of the Rank gong. It certainly takes you by surprise when you first wallop it... a nice surprise though.