Paiste and Alex Van Halen team up to create Big Ride

January 14, 2010 72 Comments

PAISTE PRESS RELEASE:

The renowned Swiss cymbal maker Paiste announces the 2010 Winter NAMM Show introduction of the 2002 24″ Big Ride.

This special Ride was created by Paiste’s Sound Development team in collaboration with Alex Van Halen, who has inspired drummers over the world for more than two decades with his unique and instantly recognizable powerful and dynamic drumming style in the cult Hard Rock band “Van Halen”.

The 2002 Big Ride is based on the design parameters and character of the Giant Beat series. The finish is vintage 2002 style. The cymbal features a full, silky, powerful, deep sound character, and a sweet, glassy ping over a big, dark and misty wash, making it a versatile Ride cymbal with great crash-ability, a perfect addition to Alex Van Halen’s very own big signature cymbal sound.

As a tribute to Alex’s collaborative effort in the creation of this unique cymbal, the label “Reverend Al’s Big Ride” and a modified rendition of the principal “exterminator” artwork for Van Halen’s 1984 tour have been placed on the cymbal.

2002 cymbals are entirely made by hand in Switzerland using traditional methods that have remained unchanged in over half a century.

2002 Big Ride

Sizes: 24″
Weight: medium thin
Volume: soft to loud
Stick Sound: silky
Intensity: fairly lively
Sustain: long
Bell Character: fairly integrated, smooth

Sound Character: Full, silky, powerful, deep. Fairly wide range, fairly complex mix. Responsive, soft feel with powerful attributes. Somewhat papery stick sound with a glassy undertone over fairly dark and cloudy wash. Very versatile ride cymbal with good crash-ability for classic rock music applications. Developed in co-operation with the legendary “Van Halen” drummer Alex Van Halen.

Order Paiste 2002 Alex Van Halen ‘Reverend Al’s Big Ride’ – 24″ Ride Cymbal from Van Halen Store.

Filed Under: Alex Van Halen, Merchandise

Moo5150

Good to see the “hammer dude” again. Cool.
Big J

Alex is the man!!!
Canes_fan5150

I wonder how much it will cost.
http://twitter.com/johnnybeane johnny beane

That logo looks like a combination of the western man and the rev AL himself!
http://youtube.com/esalutti Erico Salutti

Uooooooooooooooowwwwwww!!!
Karl

I was wondering how long it would take Alex to figure out there was a seat waiting for him on the gravy train….
http://mgmgrand.com mgm kid

“Reverend Al”…Gotta love it!
Rodney

Next up…..Alex Van Halen neck brace with 5150 colors.
LMAO
Van Halen has become a gravy train. It’s not about music anymore.
Simon

Buy this cymbal, and every time you strike it, you’re hearing new music from Van Halen as you’re hearing how the cymbals would have sounded on the new album.
TheTruthHurts

“…and remember, ladies, it’s not a true douche, unless it says, ‘Van Halen’.”

“If the Van Halen symbol turns blue, then it’s a boy! If it turns pink, then you’ve got a baby girl! If Sammy Hagar’s face shows up, abort!”
http://none Dirty Duck

Gotta love karl….always been a straight shooter!

Simon: LOL!
MA=VH

…”a perfect addition to Alex Van Halen’s very own big signature cymbal sound”. Unfortunately, nobody has heard Al’s signature cymbal sound on a recording for too damn long. Maybe there’s a provision in the contract that he has to record and publish some material using it within a year or two? Can’t imagine Alex did this for the money – how much money could there be in cymbal sponsorship?

I only hope to hear it used by the man himself. Hope springs eternal….

MA=VH
levi crews

where can i get this cymbal?
Steve

There is no money in a cymbal endorsement. At least one thing is clear: If VH wants to get a new album and tour this year they have all of the equipment to do it.
Steve

I guess there could be something worse than the VH bros doing nothing but releasing equipment in their good name. They could be doing nothing. At least their keeping busy with some form of activity in the musical business. And one would assume that they are still playing at 5150 to try out all of this new stuff. I was wondering what everyone thought about this question: Would you rather that no new music is released? Or that it is released but not all that great? It will hurt the legacy even further with more bad music
Russ

Big Ride…sounds like a good song title. Wait no, Queen already has that covered. Sorry guys!

Seriously, to me releasing a signature cymbal inplies use…i.e. see Alex Van Halen and the “Big Ride” cymbal on tour in 2010 in support of Van Halen’s new album “Here it is…now quit your bitchin’”
mjc

no remastered archives,no new music info,just more BULLSHIT!
arthur_bishop1972

TheTruthHurts:

LMFAO, that was funny-thanks.

Definitely abort if it looks like Sammy, although if it looked like Wolfie, I’d probably do the same!!
SCAR

Hell let’s get wasted and take a ride on the VH gravy train!!! It might be expensive, but I bet it will be a hell of a ride……….
shawn

CULT hard rock band?

that’s what we’ve come to. it’s 2010 and van halen has a ‘cult’ following.

no new album in 12 years.

i’d be happy with a killer double dvd set of concert/studio footage. i wanna see those records being made!!
Dooley

What’s next, Wolfgang lunchboxes?
phillster

Apparently,this cymbal was made for verbal bashing as well.
As a drummer,I`d love to give it a try.
As a fan i`ll keep my mouth shut.
Kayser Sozay

I hear you Shawn. That’s exactly what stood out to me too in that article. Describing VH as a “cult” band. Sadly, it’s hard to argue with that description given the current state of the band. The name VH was how the world used to describe rock music from 78-96.
Frank

It’s good to see he’s not hangin around holding his dick while on hiatus…maybe we can hear this piece of art on the new album later this year??
Go Al!!!

Frank, NL
Pete

Alex makes good use of his ride, it too is one of the choice ingredients in great VH music.

“Reverend Al”? Wow…these guys are more weird every day. It’s like a new “Spinal Tap” or something.
Panama Red

There’s a pretty cool show called “Time Warp” where they film everyday things on high speed cameras. It’s cooler to watch than it sounds. The two hosts are kinda geeky but it’s pretty entertaining. There was an episode about drums. Check out the 5:00 mark to see what cymbals really look like when they are hit with a drumstick. It’s the coolest part of the whole video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojiPW0FAiik
They say that rock drummers work at the limits of human endurance. They burn up to 600 calories an hour and are at risk for sprains, heart strain, and stress injury. Even collapsed lungs have been reported.
There’s also an episode of Lars Ulrich (who I used to think was awesome but now have little respect for) playing drums. And the bass player from Metallica trying to blow out his amp.(Unsuccessfully – he ends up ramming the neck of his bass in it) Cliff Burton and Jason Newstead could have blown it out. LOL.
Plan 9

Ah yes. It’s 2010 now, so we can officially refer to any year in the previous decade as “vintage.” Thank you Marketing Department.
ROB5150

Currently the only in Van Halen camp that is selling nothing is Dave! 25 years ago he was the brilliant star in R’n'r. Destiny is strange sometimes…Dirty Duck, what do you think ?It’s good discuss with you!
Dooley

Panama Red:

What don’t you like about Lars? Just curious.
dude

It’s called “Reverend Al” because Al is an ordained minister. From Wikipedia: “Alex has become an ordained minister and presided at his brother Eddie’s wedding.”

How about VH blows us away with a deluxe vintage video dvd, last tour dvd and a new album. The mother of all boxed sets …

Sorry. It’s Friday and I’m just feeling good!
http://none Dirty Duck

ROB5150:

I’m the first to admit that I live in the past at times.
I think as you get older, you tend to do it more.
With VH I know that those days are long gone, and like tom petty said: “The good ol’ days….may not return”
The same goes life in general. One day you’re on top of the world, the next…bottom of the barrel. What goes up…must come down. I think you catch my drift…
I think dave put in some truly memorable years as the orginal frontman of VH and for a couple years solo.
He truly was a magnetic personality…..and I was drawn to him at the early age of 10 years old. He was the man and to me as a 35 year old….he still is. There’s a quote that i love saying everytime someone makes a crack about dave.
It’s better to burn out, then fade away. New VH album or NO VH album he is a “legend”. He’s made his impact on the rock world and he put in enough rock miledge to say that his shit is legit. 20 something years…starting from backyard parties working his way to arena’s in every state country etc to me is impressive. He could say that he’s done with VH and rock tomorrow and I’d get over it.
He’s lived his life like there was no tomorrow and proved that it wasnt just a line in a song……many times.
VHIII_1998_

how about DLR eat em and smile halloween costume?
Chris

Finally Al gets some credit in the drumming world, it’s great to see that he finally has a signature product on the market other than his sticks
Bryan

Nice to see us VH fans that play drums finally get some cool AVH gear. First Ludwig releases the (albeit limited to 100 pieces) AVH signature snare, thus giving away some of AVH’s snare secrets (42-strand snare, emporer-X batter head, and ambassador snare side head) and now the equally as awesome Paiste 2002 Big Ride! Too bad I just bought a Paiste 2002 22″ ride. Guess I’ll have to trade up!
BTD

blah, blah, blah…
Bocephus

The Professor.

Nice piece.
http://www.myspace.com/timkarplus t1m

I’m not a drummer, but if I were, I would totally buy this
Panama Red

Dirty Duck- Great post about Dave! I understand your sentiments. Dave will always be a legend in rock no matter what. He spawned a lot of cheese ball wanna be’s but he is an original for sure.
Dooley- Way before I was ever a hardcore Van Halen fan I was literally obsessed with Metallica. My walls were covered in Metallica posters and my dresser drawers were busting at the seams with Metallica shirts. I listened to them incessantly 24/7 wherever I went. But I felt that “And Justice For All” was their last truly great album. Their Black album is listenable but I could tell that’s when they started losing it and started changing their sound. The way it was produced and it’s sound geared more towards being radio friendly instead of making a album for the sake of making a kick ass Heavy Metal album. And the way Lars handled the whole Napster ordeal. I just think he could’ve handled it better instead, to me, he came across as only caring about the business and money aspect of being a musician .(I know that’s a whole discussion in itself) Every album since the Black album in my opinion is just a sad reminder to me of what Metallica was once capable of and what they once stood for. METAL!
You can hear the loss of sincerity and lack of real aggression in James’ voice and the uninspired lyrics and guitar riffs now. You can scream and make your voice sound gravelly and tune your guitar down and play heavy chords but if there is no true anger, aggression, and sincerity behind it you can hear it missing. (Remember I am only stating my opinion) There are thousands of Metallica fans who would disagree. To me it seems like they are now just trying hard to sound like a Heavy Metal band playing metal chords and trying to sound like they have real angst instead of having real metal flowing through them. Maybe when you become so filthy rich and famous it’s hard to keep the edge. It’s easier to be angry and have something to prove when you are young, struggling, and full of rebellion. But yet, I don’t feel that Dimebag Darrell ever lost the eye of the tiger. It’s just my opinion but their music doesn’t effect me anymore. I’m talking about the newer stuff, I still rock out to the old Metallica, but the old Metallica almost seems like a different band to me. One thing I can say about Metallica with all honesty is that I will be forever grateful for their early albums. They got me through some horrible times after my Dad died. They were better therapy to me than any fuckin shrink could have been.
freddiegirl

I think this is pretty cool…makes me wish I’d taken up the drums! I’d love to hear the opinions of someone here after they’ve tried them.
http://none chickenfoothater

Al’s been playing the same drums and cymbals for years and has been faithful to them.Truth be known paiste probably was the one who approached him several times to do the deal and he finally gave in for the fans.He don’t need the dough.Question is not if van halen releases “bad” music or not.They wouldn’t release anything that sucked.The question is would it make you feel 20 again?That’s what you really want.At the same time,if it mimicked old vh to a tee,fans would bitch,so you have to have the balance of new with old.What you always loved about van halen was thier inovation right?We’re all older now, and it takes more to entertain us than before.VH knows this.
SCAR

I like what I’m reading duck!!! Well said on your last post!!! Here’s a toast to the Mighty VH and it’s legion of hardcore fans like the duck, who post on this site on a regular basis!!! Cheers everyone….AND ROCK THE FUCK ON!!!!!
SCAR

It’s the weekend, have you got your buzz on?
Canes_fan5150

I was telling my friends about this cymbol today and half of them didn’t even who van halen was. It’s rediculous. I was born in the wrong era for music.
Atomic Pete

Looks like they used part of the graphic of the dude with
the hammer behind his back from the 1984 tour shirts on the
cymbal.The original was from an extermination company in Hollywood.

@ Scar

Oh it’s definitely on. Have a good one Bro!

Off to listen to Fair Warning. Someone mentioned “Dirty Movies”
now I must hear it. Cheers!
5150fan

Now they’ve all forgotten about the music I suppose.
CHRIS

I’m ordering mine ASAP, I’ve been waiting for the 2002 Ride to come out in a lighter weight. The Giant Beat 24in Ride is amazing and I can see why Alex played that cymbal in the last VH tour. The new 2002 Big Ride is very much in the mold of the Giant Beat 24in Ride. Alex’s drums and cymbals sound in the 2007/08 VH tour is by far the best they have ever sounded, it’s just a damn shame VH won’t release a DVD of the 2007/08 tour so I can hear it in all it’s glory!! Like others here it’s about time Alex is rewarded with some signature line equipment, apart from John Bonham Alex has the most reconized drum sound and style in Rock!!
Frank

Duck, well said man. You almost made me cry
I think it’s good i’m “learning to fly” to the past every once in a while too…

Frank, NL
Frank

@Atomic Pete: i wonder when Paiste and AVH will get sued by this company for using their image. LOL

Frank, NL
Karl

Duck, seriously, getting wistful about getting older at the tender age of 35?
ROB5150

Duck,I think it was a luck grow up in the ’80 and listen to music that now disappeared. I start listen to Van Halen in 1980, I was 12, I saw them on italian national Tv, they played “Fools”. The day after I bought their 3 albums (vinyl!).And the fact that today, after 30 years we can exchange views, even contradictory, about our band, well this is great!