There are a couple of ingredients required for a great metal ride cymbal: it needs to be loud enough to cut through a wall of guitars, bright enough to produce a strong attack, and dry enough to retain its note definition with fast patterns.
That’s exactly what Zultan is aiming for with its new F5 series 18” Mega Bell ride cymbal, which it says achieves all of these things for a “loud, aggressive and biting” ride sound, designed to deliver a quintessential ride sound for heavy music on a budget.
It’s 100% handcrafted, and is made of the same B20 Bronze alloy found in higher-priced cymbals. The huge bell is lathed and polished, while the bow and underside of the cymbal is hammered by hand to produce the large hammer marks you can see, before being polished to a brilliant finish.
At the time of launch, the F5 Mega Bell Ride is only available as an 18” cymbal, priced at £167/€191/$208. For more information, visit the Zultan website, or to check the latest price at Thomann, click here.
