A few hours ago I had Zildjian Z Customs all around... I just dumped 'em all. I found a local Dream dealer. I went in, really liked what I heard, and just decided to go for it.
I got 4 crashes to replace my 4 Z Customs: 16", 17" and 18" in the Bliss series, and an 18" in the Contact series. The Contact matched up perfectly, where as there was another Bliss that didn't fit in with the rest.
They had two sets of Contact series hats, and a set of Bliss hats. I preferred the Contacts over the Bliss, and one of the two pairs just sounded "right". They didn't, however, have any Dream rides. There was a really nice-sounding Zildjian K Custom though, that matched up PERFECTLY with the Dream cymbals.
I traded all the Z Customs in, paid the man the difference and walked.
Now, anyone familiar with the Dreams will think I'm nuts for going from such heavy cymbals to such light ones, but here's my reasoning:
I've been playing so hard and so loud that I have nowhere to go, dynamically speaking, except down. I wasnt able to really even hear my floor toms over the roar. I've gotten back to listening to a lot of jazz lately, and though I'll continue playing loud rock and metal for now, I've really been inspired by the drum tones from the jazz guys. Specifically, I've been absolutely FLOORED by just how huge Joe Morelllo sounds on the old Dave Brubeck recordings. Just a massive drum sound in comparison to mine.
Not to mention, metal and heavy rock isn't the only thing I can do--in fact it's not really part of my background, playing-wise. I'd like to be able to do other kinds of gigs, and the loud Z's were/are just too much for most situations. They work well in loud settings, but fall flat when played softly. And in low-volume settings, their lack of depth and complexity makes them sound cheap.
So... I'm looking forward to playing this new stuff. I have some new rules to go with the new gear:
1) no gloves
2) no breaking sticks
3) no sticks bigger than 6A's or 7A's
4) no blistered fingers or hands
5) NO HITTING HARD ENOUGH TO MERIT OR CAUSE ANY OF THE ABOVE!!!
Happy drumming, Y'all... :)
