Thanks for calling my attention to the passing of Bob Zildjian, as I hadn't heard about it yet. Without a doubt, he will be missed.

While all the crash and hi hat cymbals I currently use are Zildjian, my prized 20" medium ride is a Sabian from the late 80's. Together, they all make a wonderful "family" of cymbals. I had never been that crazy about all the 20" Zildjian medium ride cymbals I tried, but as soon as I auditioned the Sabian, I new it was the one to complement my other cymbals!

Mark

Robert Zildjian , attained a remarkable achievement. Although, he began with a complement of workers and realistic designs and ideas;------ launching a new brand and building it up to surmount it's progenitor, in sales, in 20 years and with a fully competitive product , made with the utmost care and attention to detail----no shortcuts or bargain basement tactics, has to be regarded as ----just that: remarkable!

I am not a Sabian player-----in fact I have only 3 Sabian cymbals( I would like to have a few more) but all of those that I have played or reviewed have been at the peak of their category. Robert seems to have taken the Zildjian concept to a next obvious stage----something that the seed company has been unable to do.

I met Bob several times in the early 90s. He was a class act. I worked at a shop that he would stop by when he was in town. He heard about my large Sabian setup on my kit and asked to see photos, when I showed them, he noticed that I had 2 Zildjians and asked why they werent all Sabians. I told him that I couldnt find the sounds in those sizes. He took the cymbals back to the factory and had them made for me, no charge. Like I said before, CLASS ACT. I am a Sabian guy to this day. RIP

I have proudly played all SABIAN HH's since 1986!... have never changed. I have also played pretty much the same cymbal set-up for decades too. I needed another 17" Extra Thin HH crash.. ( natural finish ) .. as mine, after years of service!, was sounding "dead"... which can and does happen over time, especially with the thinner weight crashes. Anyway, SABIAN, for whatever reason, wasn't showing/offering a 17" Extra Thin HH from any dealer that carried the line. In desperation I emailed SABIAN direct with my request. Robert Zildjian himself got back to me with a reply and phone number... so I called the number, and Robert answered the phone! Now THAT... is customer service. So...

I explained my situation, and also told him that I was a staunch SABIAN HH player, and had been for close to 20 years at that point. I buy all my own cymbals... no endorsement deal here. He laughed and was very complimentary, and then said: We'll make it for you. Where do we send it? OMG. I was shocked. That was totally unexpected. Well, they did make the cymbal... and ship it to me... NO CHARGE. What an incredible guy he was... to take time to talk to a non national lever player, and then offer to make the cymbal and ship it... NO CHARGE. I still have that 17" Extra Thin HH crash... oh!, and underneath the bell, Robert signed it! That was a nice touch. You just don't see a lot of this type of customer appreciation/service today. He will be missed... but not forgotten! Coincidentally...

my 20" SABIAN HH ride is a one of/prototype that he also signed. GREAT guy he was!

Tommyp

GREAT story Tommy!!

Life long Sab player here too. I've tried many others and liked many others but only ever bought and owned Sabs. They have my voice.

Now my son has started playin and his first cymbals are Sabs too.

Says alot for a brand when there is unwavering loyalty, even generation to generation.

Thanx Bob.

Legacy drummer and Tommyp... Excellent stories!

Sad, but he leaves company in excellent shape and prosperous future.

Never played so much Sabian, but have a lot respect to them

Never had the pleasure of meeting him, but did get a wonderful tour of his operation. While visiting relatives in New Brunswick, my wife and I were driving down a small back road in the middle of nowhere along the St John's River when we suddenly came upon a few large buildings with a big "SABIAN" sign in front. When my wife asked why I slammed on the brakes, I explained that we had just accidently stumbled upon cymbal Mecca.

We went inside and were greeted by the friendliest office workers you can imagine who happily responded to my request for a tour. A very knowledgeable worker guided us through the entire manufacturing process from watching the alloy ingots melted down, to the pressing, hammering, lathing, and polishing processes. Even got to see crotales being tuned.

We finished in a large, special vault (which they've labeled as "AREA 51") filled with examples of everything in their line along with prototypes and experimental one-offs. Imagine being surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of freshly made cymbals. They let me play everything and explained that this vault is where their endorsers try out the newest products and walk out with whatever they want. I didn't get to walk out with anything except a Sabian logo T-shirt, and wonderful memories of a great experience.

Our tour guide explained that because “RZ” couldn’t legally use the Zildjian name for his cymbals, he named his new company after his children… Sally Bill Ann, demonstrating the importance he placed on family. He leaves a wonderful legacy and the percussion world has benefited immensely for his contributions. He will be missed.