Zultan Z Series Professional Set

I purchased this set to complement the Sabian AAXs that I use; I wanted a bit more variety. As with all handmade cymbals, no 2 cymbals of the same type/size will sound exactly the same so I was a little bit nervous about differences to the samples on the website. In truth, there are slight differences but the sounds on the website do get across the character of these cymbals.

14" hats:

I really like these hi-hats. They have a dirty/dark/washy sound to them, yet a brilliantly bright 'bark'. They have a really nice 'chick' sound when using your foot to close them together. The only slight issue I have with them is that (as is the case with handmade cymbals), they are not 100% perfectly round which means they don't sit together 100% 'flush' when the footpedal is closed. This is really only an aesthetic issue - they play perfectly well; I just need to adjust the hi-hat stand slightly to stop the bottom had from sticking out and chewing up my sticks!

20" ride:

It took me a while to get comfortable with this ride but it's got a lot of character. The multi-lathing means that you can get different sounds from this ride; brighter sounds from the brilliant parts and slightly darker sounds from the un-lathed parts. Stick definition is excellent and the bell is very nice as it's not overpowering but is still loud enough to be heard easily. My only reservation is that it's not really crash-able unless you really hit it - I'm not a heavy hitter and I'm used to using ride cymbals which open up at medium volumes - however, the stick definition makes up for this.

16" crash:

I love this crash. It's not too loud, not too bright but opens up even at low volumes. It sounds great with sticks or mallets and cuts through really well when hit with sticks.

18" crash:

I also love this crash. Quite complex; it can be used as a crash ride as well as a crash but really cuts through as a crash cymbal.



Overall, I really like these cymbals. They seem to be good quality, they have loads of character, are cracking value and they even come with a cymbal bag (which isn't mentioned on the website) - bonus!