Zildjian A Zildjian Medium Ride 22": the bright ride family Ginger Baker played since 1963

Zildjian A Zildjian Medium Ride 22" (A0036) belongs to the A Zildjian family, described on Zildjian's own site as the brand's "classic sound," bright cymbals ranging "from thin and delicate to extra heavy and cutting." Cast B20 bronze, mid-range pitch, and enough crash in the edge to double as a secondary crash when a song calls for it. Zildjian's own listing calls this model a "superb, all-around ride cymbal" with "great stick definition for simple-to-complex rhythmic patterns on top."

At 22 inches, this is the larger of the two sizes Zildjian currently offers in this Medium Ride, the other is 20 inches (A0034), and it is the size documented on one of rock drumming's most influential rides.

Ginger Baker bought his first Zildjian cymbals in 1963, three years before Cream formed, and kept using some of the same physical cymbals for decades. DRUM! Magazine's account of his setup names a 22-inch ride "with multiple rivets (for that jazzy sound)" and 14 to 15-inch hi-hats as fixtures still in his kit decades after he bought them. Baker's own gear archive corroborates the size and era, and adds the specific detail: the 22-inch ride and hi-hats he played on stage during Cream's 1968 tours were reportedly the same physical cymbals he still used decades later.

One honest distinction: Baker's ride had rivets, drilled holes fitted with loose metal fasteners that add a sizzling wash to the cymbal's sustain, a texture common among jazz-trained drummers of his generation (Baker studied under British jazz drummer Phil Seamen before Cream). Zildjian's current A Zildjian Medium Ride ships without rivets. Same family, same size, same bright A Zildjian voice, just without the aftermarket sizzle his own ride carried.

Bright and present with a mid-range fundamental, the classic A Zildjian voice. Stick definition stays clear through busier patterns, and the edge opens into a genuine crash when hit harder, useful on a kit that does not carry a dedicated crash for every accent.

Without rivets, this Medium Ride reads clean and controlled. Add a rivet modification, a job most drum shops can do to an existing cymbal, and the sustain picks up the sizzling wash Baker favored, closer to what DRUM! Magazine describes on his own 22-inch ride.

Classic-rock and blues-rock rhythm sections chasing a bright, present ride that can also stand in as a crash. Players who want the A Zildjian family's mid-range voice at the larger 22-inch size for more sustain and a bigger crash than the 20-inch version offers. Anyone building a Cream-era or British blues-rock kit who wants the correct cymbal family and size before deciding whether to add rivets.

Traditional jazz combos chasing a darker, drier tone, look at K Constantinople instead. Players who specifically want the sizzling rivet texture out of the box: this Medium Ride ships plain, rivets are an aftermarket modification, not a stock option on this SKU. Anyone who needs guaranteed same-day stock, Zildjian's own site has shown both sizes of this Medium Ride sold out or unavailable at times.

If the Ginger Baker connection is what brought you here, this is the right family and size to start from: 22 inches, A Zildjian, the same bright mid-range voice he rode from 1963 through Cream and beyond. It ships without the rivets his own cymbal carried, a modification a drum shop can add if the sizzle matters to you. For straight-ahead rock and blues-rock rhythm work, it holds up on its own.

Zildjian

A Zildjian Medium Ride 22" (A0036)

Price tier: $$

View on AmazonFull review →