Gear Review - Zildjian Pitch Black Cymbals
Zildjian’s Pitch Black series is the latest addition to their sheet bronze collection. Falling above the recently released ZHT series, Pitch Black is made of B-12 alloy and designed to be played loud. From Zildjian’s website:
The formidable sound and look of Rock at its absolute best. Pitch Black™ cymbals were specifically designed to be coated and played loud… We then developed a proprietary coating process which allows the cymbal to be durable and strikingly beautiful yet still open up like a cymbal should. Eight new models unlike anything you or your fans have ever heard or seen before. The only way we could make these any more Rock would be to put leather pants on them.
Just from reading that blurb, I’m already turned off. Last I checked, music was more about the sound than the look. I completely understand stage presence and looking cool and all that jazz, but creating products with the look being the primary motivation behind it is a bridge too far in my book. My guess is that Zildjian created the series as a marketing ploy to make more money from young drummers who are not as much concerned with sound as older drummers might be. Perhaps they figured they could get a big name drummer from an up and coming alt rock band and scores of young’uns would flock to Guitar Center to get their hands on the Pitch Black series. I don’t know… just a thought.
Let’s talk about the sound.
It sucks. Even for a sheet bronze cymbal, this is pretty low grade. I felt like I had to smack the crashes with a sledgehammer to get it to open up. These are obviously meant for VERY loud playing situations. The overall weight of all the cymbals, even the 13″ splash, is very heavy. Very thick and dense. I can’t imagine getting more than two different tones out of each cymbal: crap and crappier. And that’s on a good day.
Back to the look. Zildjian engineered this “proprietary coating process” for this line. Sorry, I wasn’t aware dipping the cymbals in paint from Home Depot was proprietary. It felt as if I could chip the coating off just by scratching it. There’s no doubt in my mind the coating would not hold up under even standard playing conditions, much less the rigorous style these cymbals were apparently designed for. Now for the creme de la creme… the hi-hats.
While I like the idea of making sheet bronze hi-hats Mastersounds as they’ve done, the didn’t bother to apply this amazing coating process to the underside of the hi-hats. It makes the cymbals look tacky, as if Zildjian hadn’t gone out of their way to make that happen already.
Overall, I think Zildjian missed the mark on this one. They tried something like this a few years ago with the now discontinued ZXT Titanium line. No one liked it. They should have taken a page out Paiste’s book and realized that no one ultimately wants colored cymbals. You have to sacrifice too much in the process of making them a different color that you ultimately lose the sound. I give the Zildjian Pitch Black cymbals a 1 out of 5 mics.
Filed under: Gear, Opinion, Reviews
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paste is made by zildjian
What?
“paiste” is not made by zildjian i know for a fact im endorced by them and dont you think they would have dont a better job on the sound of the painted cymbals is they have already done it b4? i man at least you can get a sound out paiste models painted cymbals
I’ve used Zildjians all my life. I started playing drums in elementry school band in 1959 and been playing ever since. I’ve gone through high school marching & concert band, rock, latin, disco, and today I play soft jazz.
Today I use Zildjian Custon A. Although I admit that I’ve never used the “Pitch Black” cymbals, they just don’t appeal to me and don’t even look natural, and I have no intention of ever getting them. And from other reviews I read, I think you may be better off getting ZBT’s.
Call me “Old Fashioned”, but I perfer to stay away from the new fad styles and stay with what has worked for me over the years. But I’m sure a lot of the young rockers will love them, but there just not my style.
The only thing I can disagree with in this article is the implication that Paiste learned their lesson with the ColorSounds. The gimmicky-est thing in Paiste’s line right now is *almost* the Stewart Copeland blue-coated ride with the annoying Copeland logo on it. Oh wait - there’s something worse- a new black version of the Alphas with the Slipknot logo on them!!! Marketing-idiocy is a virus that spans continents, I guess. (P.S. I am no Paiste hater; have a full set of Signatures on my kit right now and love them).
i purchased the pitch black 3 piece kit. and the only thing that i dont like is the 18 inch crash. its a little to think for my liking. im more of a crash ride person. the hi hats are crisp and the ride is solid.
I have the 18″ china and to me it is the best sounding china I have heard. Actually, it’s a tad to loud cause I am a hard hitter and when you hit them hard they cut lose. To me being a drummer with a budget and tring to play local gigs these work fine. I myself have the ZXT Titanium hi-hats and ride (broke the crash) and I love the to death after 2 years of playing the crash gave in and the top hat has too. If I was anyone thinking of the pitch blacks get em if your on a budget, if not, then I recommend the Sabian Metal-X line.
I have not used the pitch black cymbals simply because the color seems to childish. The bronze custom A’s are perfectly fine to me and i love the way they are quick and loud. I play for a traveling tent crusades and love the way the bronzes matches my silver sparkle star classic drum set.
I agree completely with Cass up there, these are quite amazing cymbals.
I own the 18″ China as well, and after comparing it to the 18″ Oriental, it’s almost identical. With the economy this bad and musician’s sprouting everywhere, why pay an extra $200 for the same sound? Not worth it.
In fact, in the process of needing money for other important things, I sold my A Custom line and purchased seven of the eight Pitch Blacks to compliment my white ddrum kit, and I couldn’t be more impressed.
The 15″ Mastersounds from Pitch Black are almost identical to the 15″ Mastersound A Customs I used to own, I barely see a difference, and if anything they’re a lot louder and a bit darker than the bright A’s. I drum for a developing metal band that doesn’t exactly have thousands to spend on gear. I’m perfectly happy with the Pitch Black series, and plan on using them for a long time. They are loud, cutting, dark, and pretty good looking, the only con I’ve found is that the crashes tend to chip on the rims, obviously, making them look similar to the Hats, which is no problem for me.
Go and try these out yourself, you may be as impressed as I was.
Why does Zildjian kept on making crappy thick cymbals in the first place? I hate that! I agree with Carter, Zildjian cymbals are really thick so you really have to hit it hard. They’re not concern with the sound. No wonder they sell pitch black for a very affordable price, cuz it sucks! just like how they did in planet z…I’m so dissapointed getting planet z and very regretful for acquiring it. For crying out loud my no name cymbal that’s made out of a house roof sounds way better and louder! Seriously!
I think the ride and china sound average but only if you really strike them hard, however the crash I’ve heard sounds like a hubcap and you would give yourself carpal tunnel hitting the high-hats hard enough to make them sound anything like you would want for most music. I’m pretty certain Zildjian is pulling the plug on them as the prices have sailed downward in the last few weeks. In some cases I’m seeing them listed as much as 75% marked down.