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Sabian 18" AA China Cymbal  From Sabian

Sharp, sweet accents with a quick decay!

Sabian Cymbals

Available for Special Order

See something you like? This item is gone, but not forever. It can be special ordered, and even customized!

We can get it fast!

Because of our special relationship with Sabian we can get this as fast, or faster than anyone in the industry. In some cases, we even have preferred build slots we can offer you.

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Manufacturer's Description from Sabian

Aggressive and brash with bright, penetrating trashiness, for accenting with attack.

AA CRAFTSMANSHIP

The traditional coarse lathing technique applied by Vault craftsmen – some of whom have hand-lathed well over one million cymbals – is one of the contributing factors to the wide-open vintage tone of AA cymbals.

  • Sabian metallurgists combine measured amounts of copper, tin, and silver to create centuries-old recipe for Sabian B20 bronze alloy
  • Molten-hot B20 bronze is very carefully hand-poured into pots, and once cooled, yields already-musical B20 bronze castings
  • B20 castings are meticulously hand-separated by weight and prepared to remove all impurities
  • Castings are fed through a large rolling oven up to a dozen times, involving a crew of 5 men who must work with choreographic precision under intense heat
  • During the entire rolling process, blanks must be rotated carefully to create a molecular weave for strength and durability
  • As castings become cymbal blanks, custom-built machine tools are expertly hand-operated to press bells into blanks, drill holes in center, cut down to size and bump for approximate shape
  • Lathe craftsmen operate specially retrofitted lathes, thinning cymbal to the desired gauge while adding crucial tonal grooves
  • Cymbal must be trimmed to exact size and the edges buffed for smoothness
  • Each individual cymbal is hand-tested and hand-weighed in the Vault by Vault sound specialists, a critical process
  • Each individual cymbal is placed on a shelf to age, allowing the frantically active molecules to slow down and stabilize
  • Each individual cymbal is once again hand-tested by two Vault specialists to ensure they fit the parameters of the series and model
Sabian Cymbals

About Manufacturer

SABIAN was founded in 1981 when Robert Zildjian - one of the world's great names in cymbal making came to the conclusion that drummers needed a better choice of cymbals. Unsatisfied with the quality, the sound and the very relevance of the cymbals being manufactured at the time, he opened SABIAN in the small eastern Canadian village of Meductic, New Brunswick.

Since that time the SABIAN Vault has become a global center for cymbal and sound innovation. And that same SABIAN innovation has resulted in an unprecedented level of choice from the most diverse offering of cymbal design ever available. As a result, modern drummers and percussionists can choose from models that range from vintage to modern, from dark to bright, from traditional to downright eclectic.