Zildjian A Custom 20" Medium Ride: the modern rock and pop ride canon
Zildjian A Custom 20-inch Medium Ride cymbal (A20519). Brilliant-finish B20 bronze with rotary hammering, the ride most working rock and pop drummers reach for when the recording needs definition without harshness.
Reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team ·
Zildjian A Custom 20" Medium Ride (A20519) is the working canon ride cymbal across rock, pop, country, and pop-blues sessions. Brilliant-finish B20 bronze with Zildjian's proprietary rotary-hammering pattern produces a cleaner, more glassy stick definition than the standard A line, with shimmering wash that opens up when ridden hard but stays under control at lower dynamics. The default 20-inch ride on countless modern rock and pop records since the line's launch in the 1990s.
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What this cymbal is
Zildjian A Custom 20" Medium Ride (A20519) is the most-shipped ride cymbal in modern rock and pop session work. The A Custom line, launched in the 1990s, was Zildjian's response to the demand for cymbals with cleaner stick definition and more cutting power than the traditional A line could deliver — without sacrificing musicality.
B20 bronze (80% copper, 20% tin) is the premium cymbal alloy. The brilliant finish is a polished mirror surface that adds high-frequency content without the over-bright harshness of B8 bronze cymbals. The proprietary rotary hammering pattern is unique to A Custom; it creates a tonal complexity that reads as glassy shimmer on the stick attack with controlled wash on long rides.
Anatomy
What it sounds like
Stick attack reads as a clear, glassy "ping" with shimmering high-frequency content sitting around 4-6 kHz where modern rock and pop mixes need cymbals to live. Wash builds gradually under sustained quarter-note rides, never blooming into uncontrolled spread the way thinner rides can. The bell is defined and cuts cleanly when struck with the shoulder of the stick, but doesn't dominate when riding the bow.
The brilliant finish adds about 1-2 dB of high-frequency presence vs. natural-finish A Custom variants. In a tracked rock or pop mix, that translates to less EQ work needed at the cymbal bus — the cymbal sits in the mix where modern producers expect it without needing 8-10 kHz boosts on the overhead bus.
Best for
Modern rock, pop, country, blues, and alternative session work where the ride needs cutting clarity at moderate dynamics and controlled wash at louder dynamics. Studio drummers tracking pop, country, or rock production. Live drummers in venues 200-2000 seats where the ride has to project but not overwhelm. Any drummer building a first professional cymbal setup who needs a ride that fits broadly across genres.
Worst for
Traditional jazz (the brilliant finish reads too modern; reach for K Custom Dark or K Constantinople instead). Heavy metal where the ride needs maximum stick attack at peak dynamics (Ping Ride or Mega Bell variants are tighter). Venues smaller than ~100 seats where any 20-inch ride can overpower; smaller cymbals (18-19 inch) read better there.
Verdict
If you're buying one ride cymbal for working-pro general-purpose use, this is it. The A Custom Medium Ride has been the modern rock-pop session canon for over three decades. The B20 alloy + brilliant finish + rotary hammering combination reads clearly across genres, holds up under any working dynamic range, and sits in mixes where producers expect cymbals to live. Premium price, premium tool.