Meinl is one of the biggest cymbal brands in the world, and their Byzance line of cymbals has a legendary status. However, the brand has been bringing out some top-tier mid-range cymbals recently, which many drummers love to use.
One of the brand’s best mid-range sets is the Meinl Classics Custom Dark line. It’s one of the oldest mid-range cymbal lines, and it’s popularity has steadily increased over the years.
In this review, we’re going to check out all of the features of the Classics Custom Dark cymbals. We’ll establish if they’re worth it, and we’ll explain who they’re good for.
The first thing you’ll notice about these cymbals is their black and gold coloring. It’s the big defining factor, and it makes them very unique compared to most other cymbals with golden finishes.
They’re made from a B12 bronze alloy, and they offer low-pitched sounds that are fairly aggressive.
In this set, you get a 14” pair of hi-hats, a 16” crash cymbal, an 18” crash cymbal, and a 20” ride cymbal.
We’re very impressed by the quality of these cymbals. To describe the sound, we’d say that they’re very loud and aggressive. However, they’re not bright and punchy like a lot of other aggressive cymbals.
They have more of a low-pitched, shimmering sound. This makes them very unique compared to a lot of other options.
They have decent tonal quality when you play them softly, but they really come to life when you strike them hard, as that’s the main use for them with most drummers.
B12 bronze is somewhat of a mid-range alloy that brands use for cymbals. It’s what makes the cymbals a bit more affordable than high-end B20 picks. However, we think these perform and feel just like high-end cymbals.
They’re surprisingly durable. With most drummers who use these hitting them hard, we’ve heard how they last a very long time.
It’s only the drummers that vigorously tour with them that tend to crack a few here and there.
If you look at professional drummers who use Meinl cymbals, you’ll mostly see metal guys using these Classics Custom Darks. That’s the best thing you can use them for, as they perfectly fit into a metal music mix.
They cut nicely through all of the instruments, and they sound powerful enough to be heard. They also have a bit of trashiness that adds to the metal music sound.
You could get away with using them for other hard music styles, but we’d mainly say that they’re a good option for metal.
We just wouldn’t recommend using them for anything that isn’t heavy, as they’d sound far too aggressive and loud. You get other versions of the Classics Custom line that would fit better in those situations.
This entire set costs just over $600. That price has steadily increased along with inflation over the years, but it still remains as one of the most affordable professional cymbal sets.
We’d say that the price is great when you consider the value that these bring. Again, it’ll be most worth it if you buy these to play metal.
If you play other styles of music, you may not be as happy with your purchase. Just keep that in mind!
We’re big fans of this cymbal pack. We can clearly see why the Classics Custom Dark line has been popular for so long.
There aren’t too many cymbal lines like this coming from other brands, making this one of the best options for heavy drummers. We’ll just mention again how durable these are. You can smash them without any worries!
If you’re looking for a new set of cymbals, you should highly consider getting a Meinl Classics Custom Dark cymbal set. You won’t regret it.
Drum Teacher
Brett Clur has a Drum Performance Diploma from Trinity College London has been playing drums for over 20 years. He is passionate about advanced concepts and uses his years of experience to teach his students about them. While he is a full-time drum teacher, he is also working on growing a YouTube channel where shares his insights. You can see him playing there, or on Instagram where he posts daily videos.
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