[chaser334]

Hello everyone, About an hour ago, i was banging on the old skins as usual, while playing one of my favorite beats and looking at my crash I NOTICE A SMALL CRACK!!??? Now i know to most other drummers its not that big of a deal, but to me, it is. Some of you may already know that i inherited my set from my father, who died before i was born. This makes my entire set very, very sentimental to me. I am very very dismayed and frantic right now and i really am hoping that there is some way to fix this crack? does anyone know how to fix a small cymbal crack and if so please please tell me. This cymbal is very old and im sure its probobly worth alot because its from the 60's or 70's.

[TheRev>R.I.P.]

Originally Posted by chaser334

Hello everyone, About an hour ago, i was banging on the old skins as usual, while playing one of my favorite beats and looking at my crash I NOTICE A SMALL CRACK!!??? Now i know to most other drummers its not that big of a deal, but to me, it is. Some of you may already know that i inherited my set from my father, who died before i was born. This makes my entire set very, very sentimental to me. I am very very dismayed and frantic right now and i really am hoping that there is some way to fix this crack? does anyone know how to fix a small cymbal crack and if so please please tell me. This cymbal is very old and im sure its probobly worth alot because its from the 60's or 70's.

That sucks bro but, unfortunately that happens. Here's a method I use to get more life out of an already cracked cymbal...get a good sharp drill bit (probably one that can handle drilling through metal) and drill a small hole (maybe 7/16" or smaller) at the end of the crack (not actually touching the crack but, just beyond...). If the hole is cut CLEANLY, your crack should stop there. This is NOT fullproof but WILL, in most cases, extend the life quite a bit. Good Luck! :-)

[TheRev>R.I.P.]

Originally Posted by TheRev>R.I.P.

That sucks bro but, unfortunately that happens. Here's a method I use to get more life out of an already cracked cymbal...get a good sharp drill bit (probably one that can handle drilling through metal) and drill a small hole (maybe 7/16" or smaller) at the end of the crack (not actually touching the crack but, just beyond...). If the hole is cut CLEANLY, your crack should stop there. This is NOT fullproof but WILL, in most cases, extend the life quite a bit. Good Luck! :-)

Correction...your hole SHOULD actually touch the crack. Start drilling JUST at the end of the crack...and remember to let the drill bit do most of the work, don't push super, super hard. If your crack is NOT going from the edge in, and is in the middle somewhere, then you will probably need 2 holes, one on each side. The idea is that when the crack hits the hole, it has no place to go, no further path to take. That's why it's important to have a good bit, that will cut a nice, smooth edge hole. Again, good luck.

[chaser334]

Could you take a picture of a time when you used this method on a cymbal? id like to see what you meant. also if some of this info helps about the cymbal-

The cymbal has no finish at all and does not shine in anyway very dingy.
18" made by zildjian it has no paint on it only a very small stamp saying: Avedis Zildjian Co Genuine turkish cymbals. If you would like to see the cymbal and the small crack i can post pictures? its up to you

	Zildjian Cymbals Shop for Zildjian Cymbals at Musician's Friend

[butter]

Looks like this, bro.

http://www.drummerworld.com/forums/a...1&d=1236188860

I dunno why this guy put 3 holes, I guess maybe the crack continued despite the hole he drilled.

This one is for the other kind of crack.
http://home.mnet-online.de/cymbalism...ls/crack1_.jpg

You could also cut the part of the cymbal out that contains the crack. It will just have an indention this way, but the crack will have to be very short to be able to do this.

[chaser334]

Well my crack is very thin you can barly see through it accually you cant unless you hold it up to the light.

I also wanted to mention that the crack is right next to the bell of the cymbal, it runs right where the bell ends and the bow begins

[TheYuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by chaser334

Hello everyone, About an hour ago, i was banging on the old skins as usual, while playing one of my favorite beats and looking at my crash I NOTICE A SMALL CRACK!!??? Now i know to most other drummers its not that big of a deal, but to me, it is. Some of you may already know that i inherited my set from my father, who died before i was born. This makes my entire set very, very sentimental to me. I am very very dismayed and frantic right now and i really am hoping that there is some way to fix this crack? does anyone know how to fix a small cymbal crack and if so please please tell me. This cymbal is very old and im sure its probobly worth alot because its from the 60's or 70's.

Wow, That sucks Man,
To answer you're question in the kindest, gentlest, and least emotionally traumatic way I possible can (see... Like how I did that? Because by now you've figured out what I'm going to tell you... sorry.), Broken is Broken. You can't fix it. I don't know how you didn't hear it. I've got 20 or more cracked cymbals laying around. I've got 4 that are cracked, and I can hear it, but none of us have been able to find the cracks visually. No matter, they still come down. Broken is broken.

I have a suggestion. Forget the drilling. Don't do it. If this cymbal has a sentimental value, don't damage it further. Honestly, You should have never been playing on a cymbal that has value to you. Especially an old one. Here's what I suggest you do:

Take that cymbal down off the stand... And go ahead and get the rest of them off of there too. Replace them when you can, with something that you can play on. Use your imagination on the best way to display it and the rest of them in a way that involves your father. You'll have a lifelong treasure.

Here's an example that I have in my home, maybe you can get a spark of inspiration, and try make the best of a bad situation:

My Little Brother and his Fiance were killed in a car accident.. Bull****, it wasn't an accident. A drunk guy passed out behind the wheel and lost control of car, crossing into the oncoming lane, and hit my brother's car head-on. His BAL was %0.21. He walked away from it with a broken collar bone. My little brother and his Finance were pronounced dead at the scene. It was his 24th birthday and they were on the way to meet us for dinner. Anyway.. Sorry (tearing up a little)

I have this really hallway in my house. One side of it was a long non-interrupted wall with just 1 doorway at the extreme far end. I never knew what to do with this. It isn't wide enough for chairs big furniture pieces. It was too much wall to put art-work on , and didn't want people loitering there anyway. My Bedroom, office, and studio were the only things down there besides a bathroom at the end. I never a good idea so I left it white. Well, after the accident, I figured out what to do with it. My brother was an amazing young guitarist. He really played 30+ instruments, but guitar was his thing. He graduated from GIT at 20. He was also and extremely talented painter/artist/sculptor and was in art school at that time.

You'll have to picture this, I have no camera. The hall was 5' wide and over 30'L. I painted walls Satin Black. In center of the wall & 12" below the ceiling is the top of a 48"dia Crimson Red Circle painted on the wall. Mounted in the center is a 36"x36" Painting he did a few weeks earlier, His final piece. Sitting on the floor, directly below the Painting and against the wall, is his favorite thing in the world: his Soldano 1/2 Stack Amp. I had 6 large copper shadow boxes built roughly the size of a guitar case, with glass doors, lights inside, and lined in Crimson Red Felt. At 4' on either side on the amp and painting hangs a copper box containing one of his favorite electric Guitars, 2 more are hung outside of these evenly space at 4' intervals. These 6 copper boxes are space out evenly down the entire length of the of the wall, each holding one of his guitars, even his ****ty Baby-blue Peavy Tracer, his first guitar that I always hated. There are 3 on each of the amp. In the 2 spaces between them hangs an enlarged 16x22 photo of him performing with his band at different times. So what used to be a long white wall is now black with 6 copper boxes, lines in red holding 1 each of his guitars, 4 large photos in copper frames, of him playing live. His Soldier 1/2 stack middle in the middle and above it, a large Red circle with a triply Painting hung in the middle. On the opposite wall hangs a 4'x4' self portrait he painted,hung in a 5'dia Red circle, flanking the side by a Large photos in copper frames, One of them is a shot of Him and I passed out in a love seat leaned up against each other, both with many embarrassing items drawn all over our faces in magic-marker, and out mom sitting on the arm of love seat, with a marker in hand, and laughing her ass off. The other picture is one of him and I in a strip-club on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras, for his 21st Birthday. We looked like we had a real good time, that night.

It looks really rice. I doesn't come off as creepy shrine or anything. His art is cool on it's own. The black/copper and red all works. It's quite beautiful. I had some reservations while I putting it together, that it would bother me, but it doesn't. It feels like he would liked it. Other than the stuff on top of his amp, nothing looks abnormal. There are 3 framed pictures-on his amp, One of him and Mom, One of Him and Stacy, his Fiance, and one of him and guitarist David Gilmour from Pink Floyd, sitting in 2 chairs playing Acoustic Guitars together. This picture might have meant more to him than his amp, now that I think about. Gilmour was his idol. I took that picture of them jamming together.

For your dads cymbals, don't drill a hole in it an deface worse. And don't break any more. Find a way to display them creatively, and include a couple of shots of your dad, If he loved the instrument, do your best to preserve them, and take an opportunity to bring him back in touch with them and you, by integrating it somehow, find a way to make it all aesthetically pleasing, and you'll be proud to have it on display. Try not' break another one. Cymbals break. Especially old ones.

Oh yea... There are 2 more items on top of his amp, that sometimes I get questioned about. There is a big, unopened can of Arizona Green Tea, because he ALMOST ALWAYS had one with him.... And, there is a small silver bowl filled the rim with Red Dunlop Guitar picks, because he ALMOST NEVER had one of those on him.

Sorry about your Dad's cymbal..

	Ahead Drumsticks Shop for Ahead Drumsticks at Musician's Friend

[TheRev>R.I.P.]

Thanks for the pics Butter...although when I did it in the past, I made smaller holes about half that size.

Just to clarify; MY advice was geared toward the IMPRESSION that you wanted to CONTINUE playing on it without the crack growing but, if it means a lot to you, just take it down and make a shrine with flowers, incense and candles and of a course, a photo. If all the cymbals are meaningful, then you'd better take those down too,and add them to your shrine; and I guess you might as well take the drum kit down too; or you could just do what you think your Dad might have wanted you to do. Do you think he would want you to put everything away and baby it in his memory?; or do you think he would have wanted you to ROCK, and take numbers and ask questions later?? That's entirely your call, and there's not a bit of advice that anybody on here should be giving you about this, besides how to fix or stop the crack, which WAS your original question, wasn't it? Duck is right though, you can't fix a crack, but, if the crack is barely visible, and you're NOT going to play on it anymore, or sell it, don't worry about it. The only one that knows it's there is you.

[TheYuckyDuck]

I'll clarify, too. REV's advice was right on, IF you intend to continue using it. I just don't suggest you continue using it. If you stop now, you can at least keep from doing it more damage. As for the drums, I think it's pretty safe to enjoy playing on them, unless it's like some vintage 60's kit with the calfskin heads still on it, in which case you be completely crazy. Cymbals never sound right once they're broker anyway. The older they are, the easier they break. I was just trying to impress upon you, that if it has sentimental value, the best thing you can do is not do any further damage. If you want to keep playing... By all means.. That's your call.. And REV's advice was as accurate and helpful as your going to get.

[chaser334]

Well, just to let you all know, i am a teenager who is turning 16 in a couple of days, and i dont have money to go out and buy replacement cymbals. I already was planing on buying a second crash, splash, china, new reso heads, a new double pedal, and a mic system. now i have to add to that list a ride, hats, and another crash...

I am very very passionate about the drums, and i play everyday and whenever i can usually once in the morning once at night. Im sure alot of you are passionate about drums too, so you can understand how harsh its gonna be to take down all my cymbals and not be able to play anything but tom beats and fills until i get new ones. If i have no cymbals i probably wont play, and thats just gonna suck to be me.

Yeah about the display thing, i was planning on doing that when i got older, i was gonna have one main set, like 3 others, and then i would have a room just for my dads drums. I dont know if it sounds a little nieve of me to say, but i was hoping that the drums could last until then and then i would stop playing them because i would have multiple sets.

But im not absolutly sure what im gonna do yet. Im still deciding whether i should take em down or keep banging, maybe both. My issue with takeing em' down is that i might not be able to play for a very long time because idk how it will take me to save enough for a ride, hats, and a crash. plus im gonna have to put all those other additions on hold.

Well it really hurts to have to ask, but does anyone know of some good cymbal sets (hats, ride, crash) that sound good for hard rock or metal (might be in a death metal band soon) that i could buy at a reasonable price. nothing cheap or anything, but not like anything $1000. I understand that meinl has a byzance package and those are some very good cymbals, i guess ill go check that out. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated, sigh......

	Meinl Percussion Shop for Meinl Percussion at Musician's Friend