I use rides as crashes mainly for the high sound that hasn't been provided to me by a crash cymbal, but I'm starting to wonder if that the way i use my rides, I'm not sure if they will crack soon and I wont have as much life out of it as I could have. Let me know your experiences similar to this.

thanks!

what kind of rides and crashes are you using? you probably will not break the ride, but i dont know how you say crashing o the ride makes a high sound.

Any cymbal you crash on will eventually crack if you crash it hard enough
I have gone through 2 20" A-Medium rides in the past couple of years
But then again, I play like a nenderthal
I have the same 22" A- ping ride I bought when I was 14 and that is because I never crash on it (even though i have pinged the crap out of it)

Here's the thing most drummers don't realize
"Rock" cymbals like (especially Z and RUDE types) don't really last any longer than regular cymbals
I had a 20" thin crash last me as long as any crash I have ever used
The heavier cymbals are built to produce volume
In fact, the thicker the cymbal, the more chance you have of cracking it (except paper thin of course)
Why is that?
Because you have to hit the heavier cymbal harder to get the intended volume out of it
Once I realised that thin ride cymbals produced the same amount of volume as a heavy crash, I then learned how to get many different sounds out of one cymbal
My "main crash" is a 20" A-custom
It gets the shimmery wash when you lay into it repeatedly and it also gets a light crash when struck lightly
I never ride on it

Find yourself a cymbal line that has the tonal charachteristics you prefer and then see what the thinnest ride is in that series
I believe you will find this theory to be generally correct

Z Custom has some 20" stuff you might like if you want the heavy rock sound
Medium is a good word to watch for

Me?
I don't cry over a cracked cymbal any more than a sculptor cries over metal he had twisted and destroyed
It's all creation that comes at the price of slow destruction








_________________
You say irritant, I say catalyst

thank you rockula. if my cymbal cracks, so be it. i'm looking forward to it, because then my parents will spot me cash for new ones...

i cant work cause of age laws, or i'd be dumping paycheck by paycheck into cymbals (cant wait!!)

I could always get a new cymbal outta the parents for christmas and birthdays
Then I started paying for my own
Since I don't expect them to last very long and never get too attatched, I like pawn shop rides
Most people don't crash on their rides, so the ones you buy in pawn shops are usually not cracked
I am constantly finding Zildjian Medium rides (my last one cost $50)
They'll be ugly but you can always clean em up








_________________
You say irritant, I say catalyst

There is only one advantage and that is volume... crashing on a ride is deafening. There is only one disadvantage and that is shorter cymbal life... I don't really know how much life it takes off, but I know that it is some