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By: Paul Rogne
OK, yes this is a late entry to their celebration of 40 years this year. There are two articles I came across that I’d like to share; first the Reverb article “Crash Clash: The Shared History of Zildjian and Sabian Cymbals” written by Matt Biancardi which was published March 21, 2014, and second, Atlantic Business’s “SABIAN, a cymbal of innovation for 40 years” Posted on April 15, 2022 and written by Alexander Chafe. What I am writing leans heavily and includes excerpts from these two articles, I encourage you to read both of these short articles for a more complete overview. The links will be at the bottom of this article.
Sabian’s breakaway from Zildjian was a very tenuous one. To get a true understanding of the history of Sabian you need to understand the history of Zildjian first, this detailed history is too lengthy to write here so I will refer you again to read the full article “Crash Clash: The Shared History of Zildjian and Sabian Cymbals”. But simply, Zildjian’s journey to the United States and establishing themselves in this country was a difficult one made even more difficult when Aram Zildjian (Avedis III’s brother) signed over distribution and namesake rights of the Zildjian brand to the Fred Gretsch Co. This caused a legal battle fought between the two for decades, it was finally in 1968 that Zildjian was able to strike a deal with Gretsch for the Zildjian trademark distribution rights.
Post WWII, Robert Zildjian suffering from PTSD was recommended by a friend to recuperate in Meductic, Canada. This is where Robert Zildjian and the Zildjian family first became familiar with Meductic Canada. The finalization of the Zildjian and Gretch agreement led Zildjian to develop a new factory to manufacture their new Zilco cymbals (a more cost-effective type of cymbal made by Zildjian) in 1968 in the town of Meductic, New Brunswick, Canada. The demand for the Zildjian brand grew so much that they needed to use this factory to produce Zildjian cymbals in the early 70’s.
In 1979 Avedis III passed away, this lead to a dispute of who would take over Zildjian. Armand, the elder brother believed the right was his, while Robert felt left out of the equation. This led to a bitter legal battle of who would control the company. After 2 years in court, Armand retained the right to run the Zildjian factory in Quincy, and Robert inherited the factory in Meductic where he founded Sabian.
SABIAN Cymbals was founded in Meductic, N.B. in 1982. The name was inspired by his three children, Sally, Billy and Andy, using the first two letters of their names.
SABIAN production started with their AA and HH lines of cymbals. Due to an agreement with Zildjian, SABIAN wasn’t able to distribute to the U.S. for one year. After a successful first year in business (making 45,000 cymbals), in 1983 they began delivering cymbals across the U.S.. At this time their “Switched” campaign. In the first round they featured Frankie Banali, Phil Collins, Gerry Brown, and Harvey Mason. In their second round they featured Kenney Jones, Graham Lear, Ed Thigpen, and Keith Copeland. In these series of posters and advertisements the featured, the artist, disclaiming very publicly, their switch to Sabian Cymbals.
The company had its first collaboration with an artist in 1989, producing a cymbal with Jack DeJohnette, and continues to work with artists on specific models today. To meet the growing demand, the SABIAN factory expanded by 5,000 square feet in 1991. One of their best-selling product series, AAX, was produced in 1993 and in 1996 SABIAN opened a larger second factory in Meductic to meet demand. By this time production had reached 900,000 cymbals. Both factories remain in operation today, with head offices on the second story of the new building.
At first Sabian had a difficult time creating cymbals that sounded as beautiful as they looked, but quickly they started refining their process, and for many decades, have been one of the leading, high quality, and in-demand instruments offered today.
Today, SABIAN is still in family hands and led by Robert’s son Andy Zildjian. Recent company news includes a successful product launch in collaboration with Jojo Mayer, and becoming a member of the Green Economy in 2022.
Read more about Sabian’s history on their site: HERE
Crash Clash: The Shared History of Zildjian and Sabian Cymbals: HERE
SABIAN, a cymbal of innovation for 40 years: HERE
