Zultan 21" Q Ride

It had the specs (I thought) to be a great ride, the dryness mixed with the brilliant polish, B20 Alloy Hand Hammered/Crafted, The bell size made me think it could potentially be crashable. I was wrong, I instantly noticed it was a bit heavy, and not very crashable (at least to my ears).
The Ride doesn't sound BAD, the Bow of the cymbal is articulate (especially in the polished area) and I would've liked a bigger better bell for this type of ride in the case of an articulate bow. On Zultan's website, it does state it's between the "Rock Beat" and "F5" in volume, but with how heavy it is, I'm now curious how heavy is the "Rock Beat?" and how heavy is the "F5?" Zultan doesn't specify that with (Thin, Medium, Heavy) So now I'm unsure on what product to look into now from them.

NOTE: Review edited to add more details after more time with the cymbal. Since this is a ride cymbal, I feel it's important to mention that I play with nylon tipped sticks the overwhelming majority of the time.

I was happy when I unboxed it due to its look alone but I was even more happy when I played it! I find this pool to be quite unique in sound because of the large unlathed areas and what I feel is quite a strange bell.

The body is quite differentiated, the lathed portion produces a deep, clear ting with plenty of wash and some brighter shimmer, but not a large amount. The unlathed rim has a less clear ting and a darker, mellower and slightly earthier wash to it which I think is useful sometimes for quieter passages of music. It is quite loud when crashed on, but it's also quite deep and somewhat dry, and I have found that, at rehearsal, a wall of guitar noise can overpower it somewhat.

The bell is unlathed too, also large and hard to miss, but looks oddly flat to my eye. But it does sound nice! A relatively soft "ping" when hit with the stick tip, and a deep, dark, more powerful "dunnng" when hit with the shoulder.

I've found this dish particularly useful in my 1st band for soft & hard rock, psych, funk and even some more poppy contexts. Playing to myself, it also takes jazz and swing patterns
quite nicely. After some recording with my 2nd band (hardcore/thrash metal), I think it's less suitable for more heavy genres, where it was a little too dark and dry to cut into the guitars nicely.

All in all, a great looking cymbal with a somewhat complex and interesting sound spectrum. Brilliant price/performance ratio as usual with Zultan so definitely worth the money and worth a try for anything from soft to loudish music. Might not be the best option for heavier styles though.

Gesucht war ein großes Ride mit tiefem, vollen Ton. Das Produkt Video versprach ein solches. Der Kuppenklang im Soundfile phantastisch. Die drei gelieferten Exemplare konnten im Sound aber leider allesamt nicht mithalten. Alle drei waren deutlich höher als im Video, der Kuppensound nur mäßig, Grundton und Wash lieferten ein dissonanntes Geräusch. Ich bin zugegebenermaßen ziemlich pingelig. Mit einer Macke in der Bronze kann ich gut leben, wenn der Klang stimmt. Dissonanzen sind absolutes no go. Das 21er Zultan Q Ride ist inzwischen das vierte Zultan Ride, welches mich klanglich derbe enttäuscht. 22er Q, 22er F5 und 20er Raw gingen ebenfalls wieder Retoure. Das ist jammerschade, gerade bei der Zultan Q Serie, welche ich liebe! Ich habe von 15 bis 19 Zoll alle Q Crashs gespielt und sie sind allesamt phantastisch! Was Ride Becken angeht bin ich mit meinem 20er Dark Matter allerding sehr sehr verwöhnt: ein absolutes Oberklasse Becken ohne Fehl und Tadel! Diesem Bronzeteller das Wasser zu reichen ist nicht leicht. Meine Suche geht weiter - gibt ja zum Glück noch mehr Zultane.
Nachtrag:
Nachdem ich auch mit 22er und 20er Q Ride nicht glücklich geworden bin habe ich es mit den 22er und 21er Zultan RAW Jazz Rides versucht und bin hellauf begeistert !