I am asked by a lot of people why I use Paiste Rude series, actually at home I use ALL Paiste Signature series, other than the fact thats the Dave Lombardo Ride Cymbal of Slayer fame; Rudes make Pinoy travels behave and not mess up the mix with painful cymbals.
The lighter cymbals make for a messy/harsh high end mix and I find that the Rudes balance out the sound of the drums nicely. Because they are thick, it is quite tiring for the drummer to hit hard on them and rather they give a more balanced non fatiguing ring to the whole band mix.
Also for crash, nothing beats the Paiste sound. For Rides, I prefer Mienl. For HiHATs, old Sabians if you can find them. And if you are going for the more modern Zildjians, go for a used Spizzichino --- they sound better than Zildjian.
