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Sabian Solar Cymbals Reviews  1 / 5 based on 3 reviewsThese cymbals are embarassing for a company like Sabian. They start life as fairly average looking cymbals, fairly dull and yellowish brass. After a while of playing, mine already look nasty, tarnished and unattractive. I have been playing the drums now for 7 years, having played in a wide variety of performace situations; rock, jazz, concert band, military, brass band, worship, and more. I am currently in a percussion ensemble, concert band, brass band, rock band, worship group and wind band, and occasionally perform as a session musician at my local school.
I bought the cymbals in my local music shop, and paid around £130 for the entire set. I did look around, but instead of buying off the internet I went for a local shop to guarantee the sound of the cymbals and their quality.
I liked the ride cymbal, it was about the only slightly decent part of an otherwise appalling set of cymbals. The bell had a clearly distictive ping to it, and the bow gave a mediocrely responsive ping also with a fair amount of sustain. This was a good cymbal in context of the others included in the same set.
Where do I begin?! They look mediocre, and from the point that they are put on your stands you would regret buying them. They may be low priced, but the only reason you would ever buy these is as something to hit, not as an instrument. In terms of something to hit, I believe that there are better sounding woks than the crash included in this set, and a wok would be a LOT cheaper. It takes short sustain to a whole other dimension, after choking itself every time you hit it. There is a basically instant decay, it has no warmth of sound and is essentially a dead piece of metal. The HiHats are incredulously dull, with a very dilapidated stick response and a terrible washing sound on half open. Also NEITHER of these cymbals project at all, making them lost beneath the chatter of an audience or the sound of a small dog barking two miles away. They are truly awful.
The quality isn't too bad in terms of long life; since they were so terrible to begin with, you wouldnt notice any change in sound with age. They are fairly sturdy in terms of thickness and would probably withstand a few long years of abuse, but I still maintain that for less money a wok would sound better and probably last even longer.
Just sheets of metal to hit. Buy a wok instead. Phil Beauchamp rated this unit on 2010-12-11. These cymbals were part of the school drum kit that I often played. They cost around £70, this gets you a hi-hat, crash and a ride cymbal.
Firstly the price! That's about it really. The ride sounds passable and I feel is especially suited to jazz as if hit it on the edge makes an acceptable crash sound and the bow sounds fairly muted and isn't at all washy as I expected it would, but the bell isn't up to much. The hi-hat is also fairly jazzy, but I'll complain about that in a minute. Also the cymbals can take so serious punishment as they are incredibly thick, but there are obvious disadvantages to this as I will explain shortly.
The crash is cringing. When my school said they had new cymbals on the kit I thought great. Until I hit the crash. It sounds as though it is continuosly chocked no matter how hard you hit it! It also has some nasty ringing overtones. Just don't ask what it sounds like in live performances, where I ended up forgetting using that cymbal and used an ancient Zildjian crash/ride instead.
The cymbals are increadibly thick and tinny. I play fairly loudly, but don't hit hard. After five minutes of playing my sticks were ruined on the thick edges of the hi-hat. They usual last six months.
Like I said previously the hi-hat sounds rather jazzy and muted; this is most definately not to be used for rock drumming as the hats produce more a muted sizzle than a chick, the bell is the only thing that I would remotely consider sounding good.
As these were fitted to a school kit an hard life was gauranteed. They have stood up well to well to some kids pounding the crap out of them, which has only resulted in some denting around the edges. I'm pretty sure they will never crack or explode, and will carry on for years.
Would you complain for just £70. I would, the ride is the only cymbal I would class as acceptable, the rest are terrible. I just can't believe Sabian do an entire range of this including splashes and china's. Just save up the money and buy a basic set of Zilgjian ZBT's or Sabian B8's. While the hi-hats on these I wouldn't call brilliant the rides and crashes are pretty good. Its well saving and getting these rather than buy the Solars and wish you'd bought something better! Robert rated this unit on 2005-01-04. I ordered this set of cymbals online for $120, an extremely easy price when your budget is tight. At the time, I knew little about cymbal quality and believed they were all about the same (I know, I know...)
I liked very little about this unit, other than the price.
Let's see...
The hi-hats have a sloopy, chink sound. I was forced to drill holes in the bottom cymbal to release some of the tension.
The splash and crash are dead. No sustain, and hitting them makes me cringe...they have a metallic ring after every hit.
I was forced to try different tapings on the ride to get a decent sound. On the top pf the ride, I put an even square of duct tape, about eight inches on each side. This prevents a severe build of ring. It was the only was I could get a reasonable ping from it.
The contruction is thick and heavy, the edges are too sharp ( I ruined three sets of sticks on them...those edges just dig into wood).
DO NOT BUY THESE CYMBALS.
Take my advice...save for a better set. You'll regret buying these. Tim Bean rated this unit on 2002-10-09.
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