[Terms & Conditions]
[VAT]
Prices are shown without VAT, upon checkout they will be added depending on your location:
Belgium: 21% VAT is added to your purchase. Other countries inside EU: VAT is added to your purchase! Unless you have a valid VAT-number (Intra-Community delivery), then please contact me directly because I haven’t figured out a way to make the website automate this.
Countries outside EU: no VAT added to your purchase, your customs-department will most probably charge import & taxes applicable to your country.
Non-EU tourists doing a local purchase in my workshop: Belgian VAT is added to your purchase, you can then apply for a refund with the correct customs-documents. Note that you might have to pay customs charges when you arrive back in your home country!
[Shipping]
Offering worldwide shipping. A fixed shipping fee per country, regardless of how many instruments you buy!
[Reserving]
If you want to reserve a cymbal, a down payment of 20% is required. This payment is non-refundable.
[Refunds]
No returns & refunds! I’m here to help you if you have a question about a particular cymbal!
[Warranty]
I cannot offer warranty on these instruments, unless there’s a very obvious production mistake on my part! The only thing I can ask is to try to avoid crack-provoking ways of hitting them, then they will last longer than a lifetime!
[General]
[Discounts]
I don’t participate in end-of-year discounts, I don’t believe handmade cymbals are consumerism-products that need to be emptied from the shelve to make place for the updated version with better graphics and processing power… On the other hand, professionals can contact me directly to enjoy a low-key-endorsement discount (in exchange for social media engagement, etc…).
[Visits]
My door is always open for visits, you can try any finished & available instrument that is present at the given moment of your visit!
[Recordings]
All recordings are done with a stereo overhead setup using a pair of sE8 condenser microphones. All audio is raw, without any editing!
[Carbon footprint]
Melting metal and worldwide shipping isn’t particularly eco-friendly. The first part of my logistics-cycle, shipping new bronze from Turkey to my workshop, is done by road transport instead of air transport. Shipping-cardboard I get from a bike store where I used to work. They have plenty of very sturdy & double layered cardboard for me to cut my own boxes! I also recycle any packing material that is fit for transport. It’s not that much, but every tiny bit helps, I guess!
[Cropped pictures]
Some pictures shown on this website might not be cropped perfectly. It may occur that lathe-grooves disappear into nothingness. In fact, most cymbals are round! Sometimes, the photos aren’t perfectly perpendicular which can lead to slight loss at the edges during image processing. Also, when a blank is a bit out of round, I like to keep it that way. The blanks are cut without a center hole, so sometimes the cutting machine can’t keep it continuously center. It’s proof that we are humans living on planet earth, where perfection is
[About the cymbals ]
[Bronze]
I use Turkish and Chinese B20 bronze, which is always indicated in the serial number -> bcba/c1aa1a: a = Turkish, c = Chinese.
[Bells]
All bells are hand-hammered, unless indicated otherwise in the serial number -> bcba1aa1ax: if an x is added, it means the cymbal has a pressed bell.
[Powerhammer]
When a cymbal is hammered by a pneumatic hammer, it will also be indicated in the serial number -> bcba1aa1a/b/c: a = hand-hammered, b = machine-hammered, c = combination.
[Series]
My series are not entirely sound based, but more visually determined.
Baloo: One side unlathed. Inspired by Jungle Book’s jazzy bear. This was the starting point from determining my series.
Honey: Fully lathed or almost fully lathed. Because bears like honey!
Hive: Completely unlathed, like a Turk. Fly: Something different/cool, something “flyyyy”.
Bó: Cymbals made from Chinese bronze. “Bó” is pinyin for an older Chinese character describing “cymbal”. Nowadays, it’s not really being used to describe modern cymbals, but it sounds beautiful nonetheless!
[Sizes]
I try to be as clear as possible with sharing the size of a cymbal, most of the things I make are bigger or smaller than the size I indicated! I use “+” for oversized and “-“ for undersized.
[Prices]
Sometimes a bit random, but mostly in the ballpark of €30/inch (vat/excl.).
[Esthetic preferences]
Weird bells, crazy lathing, low to medium profile heights, medium to medium-light weights, weird profiles, out-of-round shapes, … Just about anything that makes a cymbal extra unique :—) !
[Weird sounding zones]
The more amazing cymbals I try, both vintage & custom, the more I notice that weird sounding zones are just super okay. A cymbal is never ever perfect, a weird “ding” or a funny “pang” is actually very beautiful, and embraceable!! Don’t be afraid of these, use them!
[Personal]
[Influences]
I LOOOOVE old cymbals :—)! Old K’s from Istanbul, old Paiste's from Switzerland, old Zyn’s from England, old Zanchi’s and Constantinoples from Italy, Old A’s from America, etc…
[Favorite cymbal company]
I have little bit of a weak spot for Paiste, they’re unique and just seriously cool!
[Inspirations]
Works by Johan Van de Sijpe, Manabu Yamamoto and Jesse Simpson greatly inspired me and boosted my willpower to start creating myself.
The album that got me hooked on music: U2 - All That You Can’t Leave Behind. This band had such a powerful pull on me as a kid, incredible!
Deepest live experiences: Milford Graves & Jeff “Tain” Watts: something about their time that just hit differently, like they were aiming straight for your belly. It felt like a microwave warming me up, which is nothing less than a superpower, I guess?!
More favorite drummers: Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Ed Blackwell, Jack Dejohnette, Paul Motian, Al Foster, Jon Christensen, Mel Lewis, Jorge Rossy, Gary Novak, Keith Carlock, Dré Pallemaerts, Marek Patrman, Eric Thielemans.
Favorite film director: Luc Besson (& Eric Serra, who did most of the soundtracks for Besson’s films).