Oldest cymbal bought new?

[jptrickster]

Reminiscing: I pulled this one out of the bag last night and gazed into the past like it were a crystal ball....takes me back in time to all the clubs and all the musicians I've shared the stage with , fond memories for sure. Some I don't remember, if this cymbal could talk, Probably has blow residue on it!

Haven't really used it in quite a few yrs I keep it around for sentimental reasons and cause my GF bought it for my 16th bday, that was 46 yrs ago, 1973.
We took the city bus downtown on a Saturday , went to the mom and pop music store, Ct music, she shelled out the 37.50 for my new 16 AZ paper thin crash . Best present ever, she lvd me!

1 1/2" mid late 60's tall stamp have no idea what it weighed but pretty light and flexible. Gram weight when I was 16 meant something completely different

It's now a cut down 14 1/4 incher, somewhere along the line I put a nice crack in the edge and trimmed it all up nice and smooth , still sounds really good, quick, explosive and dry perfect for my R&B days of the 80's. And the GF? We're still on speaking terms lol , just did a reunion gig w her last summer. Quite a hoot!

 

[mlayton]

Great story Pat! Fine looking cymbal. Nice job on saving it as well.

 

[JazzDrumGuy]

Early 90's Zildjian IAK thin dark crash. Barely played it. Still looks new. I can tap it with my finger to get it to roar. I call it my Bonham crash because it's thunderous for an 18.......ah, I miss the good 90's K's.......bought from OC Drums & Percussion when they were just a huge warehouse in Fountain Valley pre-making drums......$300 if I recall.

 

[jaymandude]

Pair of Green Label Istanbul heavy 14" Hi Hats. Amazing sound, probably too heavy for a lot of jazz guys but my goodness, great. Probably early 90's, bought at Drummer's World in NYC

 

[drumgadget]

I still have the 20" Zildjian "A" ride my mother bought for me around 1956 when I started high school. Although it lives in a storage case now, it was my ONLY ride for many, many years. I can't part with it.

I remember we took the train into Boston, met my teacher at Jack's Drum Shop ..... where he helped me pick it out. Can't remember what it cost ...... but it rode home with me clutched in my hot little 13 year old hands ......... !

Mike

 

[jptrickster]

Wow Mike , that’s a keeper for sure. Someday when you bring it out lv to see the engraved Stamp

 

[zenstat]

Wow Mike , that’s a keeper for sure. Someday when you bring it out lv to see the engraved Stamp

I second this. I'm still working to fine up the years for each particular Avedis Zildjian trademark in terms of

• first year of use of trademark die stamp in factory
• last year of use of trademark die stamp in factory
• first year of retail sale for a cymbal with a given trademark
• last year of retail sale as a new cymbal (new old stock -- current world record is an early 1940s splash cymbal (11 inch and 276g) which was purchased in Sydney Australia in the early 1970s)

A purchase year of 1956 places your 20" A Zildjian ride smack dab in the middle of a very interesting era. Although to be fair I have trouble finding any era which isn't interesting in one way or another.

Yours should have a smaller mounting hole (7/16" rather than 1/2") unless it has been enlarged. It would have come with model ink on it (which may well have been cleaned off). There were BOUNCE and BOP and PING models around although knowledge of this seems to have been wiped from the memory of some members of the drumming community in the same way the model ink has been wiped from the cymbals. I know you and Pat know, but I just thought I'd make my general plea that models matter. I'm also still working on the question of how useful weight and bell shape are in identifying models once the model ink has gone. So any additional info you can supply would be golden Mike.

As far as "oldest cymbal you purchased new" I barely register on the scale. It's my Bosphorus Antique 16" Thin Crash I purchased new in September 2002. It has the older ink saying Ferit Antio and dates from before Ferit Turk and Ferit Antio were split into separate Turk and Antique series. Yet another timeline I've got historical info to help elucidate. Some day...

 

[dcrigger]

Oldest bought new would this 20" A ride from around 1968 - it's been my "go to" pretty much sense I got it. Using right now this afternoon on tracks for this year's Disney On Ice show...

 

[jptrickster]

‘68 that’s fantastic. I had only heard the word ‘Zildjian’ in 68 my older bro mentioned it his drummer at school had some they sounded unbelievable especially compared to the stamped brass plate I was banging on! I was lusting for a Z at the formative age of 11 lol

Do you remember where you got it and what you paid?

 

[Mongrel]

1977 15" New Beat Hi Hats....

14yo. Me: Dad, I really need "real" hi hat cymbals. I want 15" New Beats.....
Dad: (on the phone) I am at East Coast Music. The guy here said most people play 14", are you sure you *really* need the 15" ones?
Me: Dad, John Bonham plays 15" hi hats, yes I want the 15" cymbals.
Dad: Okay....

As a non-musician who refused to let me take up drums when they sent home the "band sign up" in third grade, I am sure Dad had no idea what he was even buying, let alone who John Bonham was, and they probably cost him at least a weeks pay. But he bought them for me at Christmas '77 just about a year after he left mom. (Divorce has a way of creating that kind of guilty compassion towards the children left behind I guess.)

I beat the proverbial hell out of them for about ten years and I still have and use them today.

 

[dcrigger]

‘68 that’s fantastic. I had only heard the word ‘Zildjian’ in 68 my older bro mentioned it his drummer at school had some they sounded unbelievable especially compared to the stamped brass plate I was banging on! I was lusting for a Z at the formative age of 11 lol

Do you remember where you got it and what you paid?

I have no idea what my parents paid for it back then (I would've been 13-14). I'm sure we got them from the main pro drum shop in Orange County, CA back then - West Coast Drum Shop IIRC.

 

[Cliff DeArment]

1974 Stanople Paiste. Dad gave me that for Christmas. The one I had before was a used brass 12" Elton. Broke it on purpose. Worst cymbal in history.

 

[NewBeat]

In the mid-70s I bought new a complete set of KZ New Stamps. The 14" hats keyholed beyond repair, the 18" was traded off to a friend early on, and the 16" I just recently sold. However, I still have the 1776g 20" ride, in good condition. Very trashy as a ride, but I especially love the bell on it. Wish I still had the entire original set...

 

[jptrickster]

Yup the bells on the K's were thin compared to the A Z's , prone to cracking and key-holing. The 20 sounds like a keeper. What style music did/do you play?

 

[A.TomicMorganic]

I have a 20" Zildjian that I bought in 68 or 69. It hs a keyhole that is over 1/2" long. Still doesn't sound bad. I sure used to abuse my gear.

 

[jptrickster]

I have a 20" Zildjian that I bought in 68 or 69. It hs a keyhole that is over 1/2" long. Still doesn't sound bad. I sure used to abuse my gear.

Cymbal sleeves and hi hat clutches without threads on the center of the post were basically unheard of in the 60’s. Key hole slot and elongated hi hat hole were the norm. We also played with taped up sticks and sometimes taped up broken head. No drum rug and crappy stools were also a thing. Oh and often no cases either. And we lived to talk about it!

 

[EvEnStEvEn]

I no longer have my "Oldest bought new" cymbals but they were a full set of shiny new Paiste 2oo2's I bought at Drums Only in Vancouver, BC while on a Canadian tour in 1980.
Prior to that I played whatever I could get second hand but I sure had some good'ns.

50s 60s & 70s Avedis, mostly, along with an original hollow ink UFiP 20" ride I wish I had back now.

 

[NewBeat]

Yup the bells on the K's were thin compared to the A Z's , prone to cracking and key-holing. The 20 sounds like a keeper. What style music did/do you play?

Hi JP - it's Biggles from CH

At the time I played in a cover band, so I mostly played the bell and crashed it and only occasionally time on the bow - very few tunes called for time on a ride cymbal. The bell is really nice, not at all piercing, musical with character.

The cymbal is in storage. It's stamped "Medium" though by any standard it is a Thin. I should pull it out next time I do a trio gig.

 

[doubleroll]

Zildjian Rock Ride 20” is the oldest which I purchased at Sam Ash White Plains, NY in early 1977. Closely followed by New Beats 14” later that year or early 1978. Still have them and use them occasionally. Luckily, I have washed all the incriminating evidence off a long time ago

 

[zenstat]

Hi JP - it's Biggles from CH

At the time I played in a cover band, so I mostly played the bell and crashed it and only occasionally time on the bow - very few tunes called for time on a ride cymbal. The bell is really nice, not at all piercing, musical with character.

The cymbal is in storage. It's stamped "Medium" though by any standard it is a Thin. I should pull it out next time I do a trio gig.

I wasn't going to out you Biggles, but thanks for revealing your Cymbalholic background

Nice to see another refugee from Cymbalholic posting here since CH has gone Read Only. I've recorded a few weight class ink stamps on K Zildjian Istanbul cymbals (and of course the weights themselves) plus ads and catalog offerings which mention weight classes. I am slowly working towards an overview of weights which places what was going on in Istanbul vs America in the different production eras/decades side by side. But the accent is on slowly because my health doesn't allow for fast progress.