Stuff That Works - a review of the Zildjian Zil-Bel. I have both sizes.


This was exactly what I wanted as an addition to my kit. I bought it without actually hearing one, but I was not disappointed. Zildjian said this about the Zil-Bel, which they have as part of their EFX Sound Effects line: "Bright, singing musical tone ideal for special accents and effects."
It sure is bright and the clear tone lingers for a long time after you strike it. I mounted it on top of my 16" ZBT Splash using a Gibraltar SC-MCSA6 - which is a 6 inch extender that screws right into the top of the Splash. (BTW - Gibraltar makes a dozen different ways to attach something like the Zil-Bel to your existing cymbals. Really - they sent me a little brochure with my extender.)
6" ZIL-Bel atop my 16 inch Splash.

Anyway, the Zil-Bel performs as promised. I like mine mounted upside down because it seems to me that the tone is louder and has a longer sustain by having the bell curve up to the ceiling. The folks at Zildjian put the decals on both top and bottom of the Zil-Bel so it looks good either way. The sound cuts through (uhm, like a bell??) the rest of my kit and makes for some cool accents. I found a way to get a Leslie speaker effect by striking it and then moving a cupped hand up and down above the bell - try it, you might like it.
I bought the small version, 6 inches in diameter, and I plan on adding the larger one soon - looking forward to hearing the two of them in combination because it is my understanding that Zildjian makes them to be struck simultaneously - the sounds weave together.
You can listen to sample of it here: ZIL-BEL-Small

1/7/12 Update - I just added the bigger Zil-Bel to my kit this week. The two of them sound great - as advertised Zildjian has tuned them to harmonize very well. I cannot believe how long the decay is on this big bell. Great clean sound that lingers. I mounted it on top of my splash on the right side of my kit:

One note of caution - the bigger bell is HEAVY. You cannot see from this picture, but I ended up using some weights strapped to the bottom of my cymbal stand to counterbalance the bigger one.
I am very happy with these two bells - either of them sound great on their own and they compliment one another when struck together. Enjoy.

Comments

Paul said…
Thanks for the review and mounting tips. I'm going to buy both these now. Thanks again!
June 29, 2012 at 5:35 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Olive oil and lemon juice gallstone cleanse works!

Image
May 29, 2011 - This post has been up since June 2008. I am amazed at the number of people who read it. There are several hundred page views every month. Please take the time to read the various comments after my post. In addition to some success stories, I have been diligent to put up comments from people who don't agree with my thinking and/or experience on this matter. My purpose in writing this was NOT to try to convince others to do what I did, but rather to share my experience. Anyway - since doing this I have not had any further issues with gallstones or pain (knock on wood, toss salt over my shoulder, etc. etc.). I am not trying to replace a visit to the doctor, just sharing what I did and inviting others to share their experience - even when it does not line up with mine. January 8, 2012 - the comments and readers keep coming. I thought I should mention one more thing. If you take the time to read all the comments you will find some variations on the recipe I followed. I...
Read more

A blog called SuperForest and saving seeds.

Don't cha love the interweb? You can find the coolest people out there. One day whilst surfing around I found a blog called Super Forest. What a great combination of uplifting stuff along with challenges to do better by our planet. Super Forest is very much behind the Millennium Seed Bank. What is that, says you? From Wikipedia: "The Millennium Seed Bank Project is an international conservation project coordinated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Launched in the year 2000... its purpose is to provide an "insurance policy" against the extinction of plants in the wild by storing seeds for future use. The storage facilities consist of large underground frozen vaults preserving the world's largest collection of seeds.In April 2007 it banked its billionth seed, the Oxytenanthera abyssinica, a type of African bamboo." Anyway - the folks at Super Forest are raising awareness and raising funds to save one seed. Read about them here: http://www.superforest.org...
Read more

A review of Terro ant bait vs Raid - Terro wins big time.

Image
We always get some ants in the late spring/early summer at our house. It is an annual tradition. Usually they are around for a week or two and then they take off for parts unknown. This year they must have decided our house is a very, very, very fine house indeed. Found them in the sugar, they massed in the dishwasher, but when I poured out a few dozen of them along with my cereal one morning, I knew I had to draw a line in the sugar. Time to poison the little bastiges. On my weekly visit to the grocery store I was looking for ant killer and was trying to find a bottle of Terro liquid. The ONLY thing they stocked was the Raid Ant Bait thingies pictured here: Since I had no choice, I bought some. I bought two boxes of 4 and followed the instructions by putting them in the ant paths I could see. Put one under the sink, up by the sugars, in the cereal cupboard, one in the corner in the dishwasher (with just 2 of us in the house now we only run it every 4-5 days) and several alon...
Read more