Zildjian Cymbal reintroduction
- Thread starter striker
- Start date
I love watching cymbal videos. Oh well, takes all kinds.
Level42
Active Member
OK, we’re marking you down as NOT a former member of the Cymbalholic forum.
toddbishop
Platinum Member
jda
Diamond Member
Medium-Thin High 22 and Medium -thin Low 20"
may be turning out to be consensus favorites.
Makes sense with the 22" and sort of with the 20"
if these are Based off Intermediate era Old Ks. Intermediate's had a High to them. Many 22" Intermediate old Ks (from the 60s) sound like the 22" Medium-thin HIGH from 2025 Kerope..
may be turning out to be consensus favorites.
Makes sense with the 22" and sort of with the 20"
if these are Based off Intermediate era Old Ks. Intermediate's had a High to them. Many 22" Intermediate old Ks (from the 60s) sound like the 22" Medium-thin HIGH from 2025 Kerope..
cbphoto
Diamond Member
Jeremy Bender
Platinum Member
Wow! After listening to several of those Kerope videos back to back then straight into the Paiste shimmer was like going from warm mug of coffee to a glass of cool peppermint schnapps. I like both!
BenOBrienSmith
Senior Member
Kai is such a fantastic up-and-coming drummer. Looking forward to his new album.
As much as I enjoy watching and listening to all of these great players, I'm still baffled by the lack of anything substantive from Z on the manufacturing, concept, and price justification for this line. I want to see Z do well- I want all of the companies in our industry to do well. But they're really not doing themselves any favors with this campaign.
Last edited:
AudioWonderland
Silver Member
Why do they need to? People are lining up to give them their money apparently. As long as they are selling, why would they disclose anything that a competitor could use as ad copy or give a hint to process that could be copied. I wouldn't. I fault Zildjian for a good many things but this is not one of them. Its still a business and it has competition
BenOBrienSmith
Senior Member
I'm not going to share any more than is public knowledge but things are not what they appear to be. These are the most expensive cymbals they've ever offered outside of a limited edition anniversary product. They haven't explained why in any way. They haven't clarified why these were given the name Kerope, which I think is really odd given the massive increase in price (and no, that's not just because of tariffs). I didn't suggest that they should share the hammering process, BOM or other proprietary information. This has just been a really odd launch.
They made a big deal about the R&D team here: https://zildjian.com/pages/r-d-anno...SekM1iydHBaW8P7SgcfzV50GIWL9L6yksKS_7hcf8d8yT
Absolutely no follow up to that.
They're making some risky moves and treating them like C-level launches. You think the e-kits are doing well?
AudioWonderland
Silver Member
I don't think Zildjian is doing all that well on a number of fronts and I have made no secret of that. There is no next gen Z to take over that knows anything about cymbals that I know of. The dumped the in house talent that might have been able to transition that knowledge to the next generation. They have brought in outside people that further dilutes the brand. Most of the non cymbal stuff they are doing is a joke. They are completely lost as an organization.
Do I think these cymbals are an egregious money grab? Yes I do. Do I think they are obliged to explain themselves? No I don't and I don't expect them to as I fully expect a truthful answer would not position them in a positive light and a lie would be quickly exposed.
To be honest I don't think their bread and butter lines are particularly unique or distinct anymore. They brought in generic leadership and they are becoming a generic corporation that has lost the plot and can't read the room. They will hang on for another generation or so and then I expect they will be gone or at least largely irrelevant. The current generation are board room seat warmers and the next appears to be too young to be making a cymbal assuming there is any interest in doing it at all. Even if they wanted to, who is going to teach them other than an outsider? For a company that has built itself on 400 years of succession this is commercial suicide.
The only hope Zildjian has long term is to get bought by Sabian and unify the family again. Even that is a long shot. These hired guns are not moving anyone's needle no matter what Mr Erskine has to say on it. They will be with another company in a few years and then what? ZIldjian is in a lot of trouble long term in my opinion
Last edited:
BenOBrienSmith
Senior Member
Based on this I'd say we share quite a similar perspective. But to clarify, I don't think they're obliged to explain anything. But it would be a wise move to justify it with more than the materials they've published thus far. I know that they could benefit from sharing more of the details but I also gather that it still wouldn't completely justify the price tag. The absence is notable and certainly offers more evidence to the company being lost. The hired guns (one of whom has been at the company for multiple decades) have done great things. Of course, not sharing the fruits of their efforts doesn't do them any favors. I'd love to see things change over there but they've got to make some difficult decisions.