Hey everyone! first of all Merry Xmas to y'all!!!
 
Like the thread title says, I'm about to get myself a new Ride Cymbal for Xmas :) and replace my 20'' Sabian XS20 Ride (not a bad cymbal, but I need one with a much bigger bell).
 
I'm in between to rides:
 
A) Paiste 22'' Alpha Rock Ride
B) Meinl MB10 Bell Blast Ride
 
Both of them seem to be great, but I'm not sure which one. I usually play mostly hard rock stuff with some poppy stuff also, but mainly heavy stuff.
 
I looked into the Sabian AAX Metal Ride but it's a bit out of my range.
 
If anyone has them or even tried them, feedback would be much appreciate it!
 
I went to my local music store but they didn't have them so I could test them out.
 
Thanks a lot! and a Happy Holidays! :)

I don't know too much about Meinl, but I did remember that the Ball Blast was a cymbal helped made by Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall and may have been discontinued when he switched to Zildjian, so you might be able to pick that up for pretty cheap.

True JR, they still sell the cymbal for about $250 new on most retailers...both are pretty much the same price...
 
Maybe the Meinl would be nice since it will be discontinued..

I'd stay away from the Alpha stuff unless you like beating the hell out of your cymbals. They're good for that. I'd look for used rides, more bang for the buck. You could probably find that AAX for 200$ somewhere.

I don't know too much about Meinl but I've been impressed with the ones I've tried at my local drum shop. I had bad luck with Paiste in the past so my vote is go with the Bell Blast.

Thanks for the feedback guys! I just found out a Sabian AAX Metal Ride for almost the same price, so I guess I will go with Sabian again! :)
 
Once again, thanks for the feedback! :)

I have a Paiste Alpha ride and absolutely love it!! I've had it for well over 10 years now as well. They definitely take a beating.
 
Although............I recently saw a gig where the drummer was using a Meinl ride, and crashing it as well. It sounded like studio quality even though it was a live show. The Meinl ride will be replacing my Paiste once I save up enough money.  ;-)

off topic but wtf is with the Z3 line....  they don't sound anything like the Z/Z customs. I have a Z custom power ride (which i love.. best bell ever) and a Z dyno beat bottom (k top). These cymbals sound totally different than the Z3's!! what was zildjian thinking axing the Z Custom line?
 
Anyway, my next cymbal will probably be a Sabian omni.. probably the larger one. Id like a cymbal that is the opposite of my Z power ride. I want wash and body..and the Omni is awesome for that. Great bell too.

Continuing the off topic comment about the Z3 line... I totally agree that they sound totally different. I bought an 18" crash because my buddy had one of the Z customs years ago and the Z3 is much harsher than I remember the old customs being. Don't get me wrong, I like it, I jus wish it didn't take so long to break in. However my K/Z hats are driggin awesome