Sabian (company)

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For the religious group, see Sabians. For the ancient Yemenite people, see Sabaeans.

Sabian

Type	Private
Founded	Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada (1981)
Headquarters	Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada
Key people	Robert Zildjian
Website	http://www.sabian.com/

10-Inch AA Splash

Sabian is a Canadian cymbal designer and manufacturer. It is one of the largest in the world, along with Zildjian, Paiste and Meinl.

The company was founded in 1980 in Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada by Robert Zildjian, son of Avedis Zildjian III, the head of the Avedis Zildjian Company. Family tradition had it that the head of the company would only pass its secrets down to the oldest son, but Avedis III gave the information to both his sons, Armand and Robert. This led to a family feud and a legal squabble, resulting in Robert leaving Zildjian to form the rival Sabian company. The companies continue to be rivals, and are both among the world's most popular cymbal brands.

The settlement gave Robert Zildjian the Canadian factory that at that time produced most notably the entire K. Zildjian line, all manufacturing in Turkey having ceased by this time. Robert agreed not to use the Zildjian name or to claim that his cymbals were the same. Some say that the most notable difference between Zildjian and Sabian cymbals is that Zildjian uses a softer, mellower sounding alloy while Sabian uses a more tin-based alloy. The cymbals of the two companies today can be distinguished by sound fairly easily. Sabians are relatively thicker for their advertised weight. Sabian cymbals have longer sustain (with some exceptions) than their Zildjian counterparts, and Zildjian have a faster response (or attack). Zildjian cymbals tend to be mellower in sound overall, but all of these differences wholly depend on the individual cymbal model.^[1]^[2]

Robert Zildjian formed the word "Sabian" from the two first letters of the names of his three children Sally, Billy and Andy, and initially released two lines of cymbals, HH and AA, both of them of the traditional bell bronze alloy.

The HH or "hand hammered" line were widely regarded as being K. Zildjians in all but name, and there was nothing in the settlement to prevent this being the case, although Robert Zildjian was legally prevented from claiming that it was true. However it was the other line, only slightly cheaper in price, that caused a sensation.

The AA line were machine-made bell-bronze cymbals. They introduced a subtly different sound that appealed to many drummers, and also a level of consistency which was at that time new in a line of bell-bronze cymbals.

Currently, Sabian has nine different series of cymbals. Their B8 series and B8 Pro series are regarded as student-level or entry-level cymbals. Their Xs20 series are regarded as intermediate-level cymbals. Their HH series and the AA series of cymbals are regarded as vintage-professional-level cymbals. Their AAX series, HHX series, Vault series and Neil Peart signature Paragon series of cymbals are regarded as modern-professional-level cymbals. Further, cymbals from the Signature series are models developed in assistance with Sabian-endorsed artists, the price and quality of which vary from cymbal to cymbal.