…”a bass drum, a snare, and a cymbal”…

[bonefamily]

Remember you can always ride on the snare rim, too, to mix it up. Very rockabilly, as you probably know.

Of course!! I do that now with a full kit too

 

[bonefamily]

This:
View attachment 596364
Paiste 2002 18" Medium. Clean sound. Cuts through, good crash, usable ride and strong bell.

I was considering this cymbal in the 20" version. Never thought about the 18" as I thought it might wash out to easy. I will need to look more at the 18"!

 

[bonefamily]

A

So many options for sure.
My favorite that I use is an old 18” Zildjian w/2rivets. Crash/Ride/Bell does it all. You can ‘pinch’ the cymbal for Hi Hat sounds. I’ve been playing Rock a Billy most of my 50 years of drumming. I’ve used an old 20” Zildjian as well but prefer my 18”.

Another nod to smaller than a 20". I need to look more into these smaller sizes...

 

[plumbndrum]

I was considering this cymbal in the 20" version. Never thought about the 18" as I thought it might wash out to easy. I will need to look more at the 18"! I've never played the 20" version.

This guy did pretty well with the 18":

 

[bonefamily]

This guy did pretty well with the 18":
View attachment 596420

I thought Slim Jim Phanton used a 20”, no? Maybe that was later when he had a separate ride and crash. Looks like this photo shows him with just the one cymbal.

Do you know if he’s using the 2002 Medium 18” in this photo?

 

[D. B. Cooper]

Wow!
You're a lucky guy!
I would love to be asked to join that band!


If it was me, I'd do 24" bass, deep snare (maybe wood hoops, 14" or 15") and a big, old, medium-weight, 60's-or-older, Avedis Zildjian. You have so much sonic space to potentially fill, I would want a big ride, 22"+. I think the range of cool sounds you can get from a say, 24" ride is way more fun to color with than a 20".

Or you could go the opposite route and get an 18" or 19". For that more restricted, minimal thing, which will sound, I think a little more old-timey.

Makes me wonder; would I rather have just a ride or just hats?
I think I would probably take the ride.
I love cymbals. Drumming isn't the same without them, for me. A ride cymbal is just a such a beautiful thing to behold.

 

[mtarrani]

Wow!
You're a lucky guy!
I would love to be asked to join that band!


If it was me, I'd do 24" bass, deep snare (maybe wood hoops, 14" or 15") and a big, old, medium-weight, 60's-or-older, Avedis Zildjian. You have so much sonic space to potentially fill, I would want a big ride, 22"+. I think the range of cool sounds you can get from a say, 24" ride is way more fun to color with than a 20".

Or you could go the opposite route and get an 18" or 19". For that more restricted, minimal thing, which will sound, I think a little more old-timey.

Makes me wonder; would I rather have just a ride or just hats?
I think I would probably take the ride.
I love cymbals. Drumming isn't the same without them, for me. A ride cymbal is just a such a beautiful thing to behold.

I can do it either way. I am totally at home with hats in lieu of a ride, but my timing does require a lot more of my concentration when it's sans hats.

 

[D. B. Cooper]

I can do it either way. I am totally at home with hats in lieu of a ride, but my timing does require a lot more of my concentration when it's sans hats.

View attachment 596642​

Keeping time with hats can be so helpful to band mates, as well. They're nice to have.
I think you can keep plenty good time on the snare rims and ghostnotes, if you want it badly enough...

...And you've got the drive to survive!

...the need to succeed!

 

[Rockin' Billy]

There's one I wouldn't have expected - thanks for the tip!

Same kit and I use my 18”. Not a problem for the cymbal arm to handle. Sometimes stack it w/13” hats.

 

[Blue Zurich]

First thing that came to mind was a Kerope 19 Crash/Ride. It's a lower volume cymbal with a more vintage sound profile to match that genre so very versatile imho.

Huge rockabilly fan, dated a couple kitties in the 80's, played a few Levi & the Rockats covers back in the day as well. Less is More.

 

[plumbndrum]

I thought Slim Jim Phanton used a 20”, no? Maybe that was later when he had a separate ride and crash. Looks like this photo shows him with just the one cymbal.

Do you know if he’s using the 2002 Medium 18” in this photo?

Certainly looks like an 18" in this photo. Cymbal Wiki lists 18" 2002 medium (from Modern Drummer 1984 interview):

Paiste Slim Jim Phantom - Cymbal

www.cymbal.wiki

 

[bonefamily]

Certainly looks like an 18 to me too. I was watching some early footage of them last night when he was just using one cymbal. At one point I thought I caught a Paiste logo on the bottom when the cymbal was rocking around. I know later on he moved to a 20” Heavy K and then added a 16” crash along with it.

 

[varatrodder]

I’ve used the bass-snare-cymbal set up in a few rockabilly and country bands, and I always leaned towards 18”-20” cymbals that are crashable rides. I definitely lean more towards the ride side of crashable ride, since I don’t have hats and usually end up spending a lot of time on the ride.

At one point I had a really nice 19” vintage A Zildjian that was perfect for that kind of situation. Later I leaned more towards a 20” Bosphorus traditional ride that was quite crashable but still had good definition. Nowadays I usually just use my 18” Istanbul K that is dry enough to not wash out.

 

[type85]

Also browsing through MDS videos and the Paiste 2002 20” Medium Crash sounds like it has possibilities - in the very low 2000’s gram weight. Bright yet warm.

This is what Charlie Watts used all through the 70's to the early 80's!

 

[type85]

The Giant Beat doesn’t sound bad neither, a tad darker.

Again: This is what Charlie Watts used from the late the 60's to the early 70's!

 

[bonefamily]

Wow!
You're a lucky guy!
I would love to be asked to join that band!


If it was me, I'd do 24" bass, deep snare (maybe wood hoops, 14" or 15") and a big, old, medium-weight, 60's-or-older, Avedis Zildjian. You have so much sonic space to potentially fill, I would want a big ride, 22"+. I think the range of cool sounds you can get from a say, 24" ride is way more fun to color with than a 20".

Or you could go the opposite route and get an 18" or 19". For that more restricted, minimal thing, which will sound, I think a little more old-timey.

Makes me wonder; would I rather have just a ride or just hats?
I think I would probably take the ride.
I love cymbals. Drumming isn't the same without them, for me. A ride cymbal is just a such a beautiful thing to behold.

Oh yeah, I love big cymbals! Last night, falling down the MDS rabbit hole, I stumbled across some Sabian Big and Ugly 24"ers that really had my attention. Really wanting the HH King 24" they had but quite the opposite end of the timbre spectrum I am needing to follow for this gig

 

[bonefamily]

I’ve used the bass-snare-cymbal set up in a few rockabilly and country bands, and I always leaned towards 18”-20” cymbals that are crashable rides. I definitely lean more towards the ride side of crashable ride, since I don’t have hats and usually end up spending a lot of time on the ride.

At one point I had a really nice 19” vintage A Zildjian that was perfect for that kind of situation. Later I leaned more towards a 20” Bosphorus traditional ride that was quite crashable but still had good definition. Nowadays I usually just use my 18” Istanbul K that is dry enough to not wash out.



View attachment 596739
View attachment 596740

Nice!! I have an Bosphorus 18" New Orleans in my MDS cart right now along with some others as I narrow down this decision.

 

[bonefamily]

Again: This is what Charlie Watts used from the late the 60's to the early 70's!

Yeah, I have both Paiste's in my cart as well as the Big Beat too. Now I'm considering the 18"ers in the same cymbals as well.

 

[bonefamily]

^^^ of course I’m only buying one of them though

 

[bonefamily]

Well, it has been an adventure for sure but I have it narrowed down to the following:

Istanbul Mehmet Nostalgia 19” crash ride
Bosphorus Masters 19” crash ride
Cymbal and Gong Holy Grail 19” crash ride
Cymbal Craftsman 18” crash ride

There are some honorable mention 20”ers still lurking in the Nostalgia line and some Holy Grails, but I am leaning towards the 19’s for now. Soooo many hours invested in listening over and over and over to countless videos….