I'm sure you cymbalholic devotees know the correct answer to the not THAT uncommon criticism of the site which is:"Yeah, we're certainly been guilty of that . . . and feel bad . . . but we believe the good outweighs the bad."getting indignant or saying that someone else just doesn't understand the "complexities of the discussion" just proves the point.
Are you even reading you own posts? (your own words right back at you)
A few years back I stumbled onto the cymbamholic (sic site to be greeted by the register page. Asking a couple of friends / pro drummers if I should bother, I was greeted by words like “pretentious” and “self important”. So I never ventured further.
Aren't you the guy who apparently outsources your personal prerogative of decision making to 2nd parties? And is this your habit?...letting other people do your thinking for you?...when you could have easily found out for firsthand by simply signing in and having the option of quitting in the event that it offended your delicate sensibilities? And it wouldn't even have cost you a penny.
You're 100% Beta Boy.
I'm not surprised that Cymbalholic is going under. I was a member and tried to get on recently after years away, only to be told I couldn't. I have no explanation for that and was offered none. I was never banned, never got into fights with anyone, although I was sometimes put off by the cymbal Nazis on there.
Mike Skiba, the great cymbalsmith from Brick, NJ, was an acquaintance of mine and after he passed away, the quality of information on cymbalholic did suffer. Mike knew more about cymbals than anyone I've ever met. He and I spent a lot of hours discussing, playing and working on cymbals. Mike sourced blanks from Turkey and hammered and lathed them himself. I still have a Paiste Signature crash Mike cut down after it cracked. He also drilled holes in it, giving it a China-like sound.
I was friends with a guy who was also a regular there, a major collector (he had 68 ride cymbals!) and between him and cymbalholic, I was spending thousands of dollars on cymbals I really didn't need, sucked into the vortex of collecting. I had two cymbal endorsements, Istanbul Agop and Bosphorous, both of which I dumped in the end, and a third company pursuing me that I ultimately turned down. I became obsessed with cymbals for a couple of years, and finally put the brakes on and said that's it, I have enough cymbals to last two lifetimes.
Today, I buy cymbals when something pops up that's a good deal. there was a period of time when I didn't buy any cymbals, perhaps ten years or more. I recently scored an old 20" Zildjian ride for $35, an Alejian 18" crash for $35, Tosco hats for $50, various Stagg cymbals for very little money (they're surprisingly nice and trashy sounding), a Tosco China for $60, a Han Chi reverse China for $60, and a gorgeous Paiste Twenty series 20" ride for $275 on closeout. I love that cymbal.
As an aside, as I understood it, Cymbalholic was not (entirely) a "place" to "understand" cymbals, or figure "why" does "what" to "make them" sound the way they do.. It was a place to elaborate on cymbals and develop a language of how to "express" them (which we did)
Not always thinking of "getting to the bottom" I don't think anyone knows that..
Even those that built and build them. It was a place that inched towards understanding them tho.
..Joe
Yes it's too bad that Cymbaholic went down for the count and for many reasons, but here's one I just thought of:
I was "banned for life". Now that's quite a distinction that not many people can lay claim to, in fact I don't think anyone else could. So I wanted to order a Cymbalholic t-shirt and that I could have customized with the addition of the words "banned for life" emblazoned on the back in large orange letters for everyone to see. My intention was to wear it proudly while attending the drum show. But although I never did that, I considered the "banned for life" label to be something so unique that it was akin to a badge of honour.
But now with the demise of Cymbalholic, in a larger sense all of the former members of that site have in effect been "banned for life". And as a result of that, this label no longer holds the same special meaning for me that it once did. It's sort of sad, when viewed in that light.
But then again you could just look at this way:
One might say that I was just somebody who was way ahead of my time; and it simply took the rest of the Cymbalholic community this long just to catch up to me. Now I really like that.
That was exactly what I posted (and received some thanks) when the announcement came down
I said
We're all drumaholic now
~
..Joe
I'll always remain grateful to Cymbalholic for introducing me to the work of Skiba, Roberto, M. Paiste, Hubback, and Johan.
I will admit, however, it was less fun after Bill was burned at the stake and his ashes sent to the four corners of the flat world.
Matt
See. If a Site does not contain humor (it's drums fer krsssake ever hear of buster keaton) it doesn't live
..Joe
