Meinl Percussion

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For people and other organisations with the name Meinl, see Meinl.

Meinl Percussion is a leading manufacturer of cymbals and other percussion instruments, based in Gutenstetten, Germany. Their main brand is Meinl.

Founded in 1951 by Roland Meinl. As well as being one of the "big four" cymbal manufacturers (with Paiste, Zildjian and Sabian), they are noted for their fibreglass congas, and plywood gongs, which proved for many percussionists that such modern materials could be used in this musical application, and similar innovations.

Meinl and Paiste are the two main manufacturers of cymbals with a European sound, derived from Turkish as opposed to Chinese cymbal making tradition and seen by some as a subset of the Turkish sound family. The European sound has more consistency, focus and penetration, as opposed to the more blending and individual sounds of more traditional Turkish cymbals. The close relationship between the two makers' tone families is most obvious in their entry level cymbals over the years, where the two ranges have often been identical alloy for alloy and model for model, distinguished one from the other mainly by the logos, and all produced in Germany, where they are the two dominant cymbal manufacturers. Both makers strenuously deny ever sharing production facilities, however.

Meinl are unique among the four major mass-producers of cymbals, in that the alloy of their top of the line cymbals has normally been malleable bronze (B8, 8% tin) rather than bell bronze. Their professional bell bronze range, Byzance, is a relatively recent addition to their product lines. Other manufacturers have produced professional B8 lines, most notably the Paiste 2002 line, but always alongside more traditional alloys for their top lines. Meinl also make high-end cymbals from B12 bronze.

Cymbal ranges:

  • mb20, professional rock cymbals made from B20
  • Byzance, professional cymbals made from B20
  • mb10, made from B10
  • mb8, made from B8
  • Sound Caster, made from B12 (Discontinued)
  • Sound Caster Custom, made from B12
  • Amun, professional cymbals made from B8 (Discontinued)
  • GenerationX, experimental cymbals developed with Johnny Rabb and Thomas Lang.
  • Classics, intermediate cymbals made from B8
  • MCS, beginner cymbals made from B8
  • HCS, beginner cymbals made from brass

Artists include:

  • Damien Harwood - Mentality

(Harwood is a notable user, as he is stepson to Harry Meinl, of the Meinl Percussion family)


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This article has been tagged since January 2007.
  • list of artists and product lines from official website
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