Categories: Cymbals

Meinl 20″ MB10 Medium Crash Cymbal

Meinl’s MB10 series is made from B10 bronze, which means 90% copper and 10% tin. The high copper content results in a bright sound, and although high copper content usually gives the cymbal a more reddish color, the MB10’s look like B20.

Specifications

Manufacturer Line: MB10
Type: Crash
Style: Medium
Alloy: B10 – CuSn10 – 90% Copper, 10% Tin
Diameter: 20″
Metal Work: CNC Hammered, CNC Lathed, Brilliant Finish
Weight: 4 Pounds
MSRP: $460 USA; Street Price $250
Meinl

The close-up photo below shows that the bell is not hammered or lathed, and the lathing on the main surface is very fine, shallow, and very close together. This can only be accomplished by CNC machining. The hammering is barely visible, and part of the reason for this is that the process of making a cymbal in the “Brilliant” finish involves an abrasive that removes metal. However, this is taken into account when the raw cymbal is prepared, so that the desired sound is obtained once the cymbal has been polished with the abrasive.

The spectrum has peaks at 500 Hz, 1.6 kHz, and 3-4 kHz, with a slow decline to 50 kHz. The decay is uniform from 300 Hz up to the high frequency limit. The sound of the crash is very sharp and will cut through loud guitar amp stacks. It could be used for classic rock or metal. It also rides very well.

The crash peaks at 0.2 seconds, which is what I would expect in a medium weight cymbal of this diameter.

Click HERE to listen to an audio sample, which will include crash (when appropriate), ride, and bell sounds (these are 24 bit, 176.4 kHz wav files, so be sure your sound card is capable of handling these high resolution sound files).

RETURN TO MEINL INDEX.

John E. Johnson, Jr.

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus. John E. Johnson, Jr. founded Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity in 1994, shortly after publishing a hardcopy book of the same title. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity until 2022. John has been involved in audio and video for more than 50 years, having built radio transmitters, amplifiers, turntables, and speakers from scratch. He was also one of the founders of the Northern California Audio Video Association, now The Bay Area Audio Society. John holds four university degrees, including a Ph.D. in Neuroscience, and has published numerous scientific books, along with dozens of scientific articles on biomedical research topics as well as imaging technology. He was the founder and Editor-in-Chief of two medical/scientific journals for 20 years. John holds several patents, including one on high resolution image analysis and one on a surgical instrument. He has been affiliated with NASA, The National Institutes of Health, The Johns Hopkins University, Stanford Research Institute, and The University of California at Berkeley. He is President of the consulting firm Scientific Design and Information, Inc., which is based in Redwood City, California. John resides in the San Francisco Bay area with his wife and multiple kitties! His daughter, Cynthia, who was an integral part of SECRETS for many years, resides in San Francisco.