Fake Wuhans?

[maradiddle]

Okay, so I was looking for Wuhan chinas, and the local music store I go to said they could order them. But, where they get them from, they seem to be completely different Wuhan cymbals than the ones I am familiar with. There's no Wuhan logo, the looks are different, and the cymbal hole is also really small. So I'd have to drill it larger myself to fit it on a regular stand... And they are listed as real Wuhan's on there. I'm a bit confused by this. I'm not even sure I want to let that music store order this for me.

[Exportdrummer]

Okay, so I was looking for Wuhan chinas, and the local music store I go to said they could order them. But, where they get them from, they seem to be completely different Wuhan cymbals than the ones I am familiar with. There's no Wuhan logo, the looks are different, and the cymbal hole is also really small. So I'd have to drill it larger myself to fit it on a regular stand... And they are listed as real Wuhan's on there. I'm a bit confused by this. I'm not even sure I want to let that music store order this for me.

Wuhan cymbals aren't made by a brand named wuhan if that makes sense. Universal Percussion owns the popular "Wuhan Cymbals" name but Wuhan is just the town that the cymbals are made in. In the factory they produce a lot of cymbals and although they are all pretty much the same, not all of them are given the "Wuhan" name and other companies will claim them and put their name on them. The china shown is technically a Wuhan china and will sound exactly the same but is under a different name.

[maradiddle]

Ah awesome. Thanks for clearing things up for me!

[Fat Sam]

Looks like a proper China cymbal. As far as I'm aware, they were originally hung from strings and played with mallets like gongs and tam-tams in China/Eastern Asia. Wuhan chinas weren't designed for kit playing.

[quicksticks]

Wuhan cymbals aren't made by a brand named wuhan if that makes sense. Universal Percussion owns the popular "Wuhan Cymbals" name but Wuhan is just the town that the cymbals are made in. In the factory they produce a lot of cymbals and although they are all pretty much the same, not all of them are given the "Wuhan" name and other companies will claim them and put their name on them. The china shown is technically a Wuhan china and will sound exactly the same but is under a different name.

I'm pretty sure that Universal Percussion is the US distributor of Wuhan. They don't own Wuhan.

[PYRRHO]

Universal owns the name Wuhan.
Lion cymbals... the iconic "chinese" cymbals with the cylindrical bells and high profile... all come out of two...maybe now three factories, and all are made in exactly the same way... 'cept the few exceptions such as OP's which are drilled incorrectly for western-style percussion.

Wuhan, Stagg, Dream, Saluda, Agazarian...Rancan...all the same.

[Ictus75]

As others have said, Universal Percussion owns the trademark for "Wuhan." Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province in China, where there are various cymbal & gong makers. While they all make authentic "Chinese Cymbals," they vary a bit in sound & construction from factory to factory, just like a 16" Crash from Zildjian, Sabian, and Paiste are all different. As with any cymbals or gongs from China, it's best to play them before you buy them…

[iCe]

I believe that the larger German stores sell those under their own names as well. Was surprised to see that typical Wuhan shape with a different logo on it. Then I saw Stagg making them as well.

[trickg]

Interesting. The thing with the hole I wouldn't worry about - bronze is relatively soft and you should be able to open that hole up to the correct size quite easily.

[maradiddle]

I appreciate all the replies! Learnt quite a bit from all of them

[BeardFace77]

steveweissmusic.com sells a full selection of these chinas from wuhan without the wuhan name on it. I've played 12", 13" and 18" versions of the Weiss brand wuhan chinas and they were all fantastic sounding cymbals. I'd even venture to say they were better sounding then wuhan brand chinas I've experienced and the Weiss brand is even cheaper still!

[Bri6366]

steveweissmusic.com sells a full selection of these chinas from wuhan without the wuhan name on it. I've played 12", 13" and 18" versions of the Weiss brand wuhan chinas and they were all fantastic sounding cymbals. I'd even venture to say they were better sounding then wuhan brand chinas I've experienced and the Weiss brand is even cheaper still!

Steve Weiss was a long time Wuhan seller before Universal Percussion became the exclusive distributor in the 90's.