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Posted 5 Months ago
kcbergmo
Junior Boarder
Posts: 33
graphgraph
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Bos is making FAR nicer bronze than Istanbul.
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Posted 5 Months ago
FieldTurf
Junior Boarder
Posts: 34
graphgraph
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Does anyone know a shop where I can play some Istanbul and Boshporous cymbals in the San Francisco Bay Area? I've called about 10 drum shops here, and not a single one stocks either cymbal. It's really driving me nuts, nothing but Zildjian or Sabian anywhere! I've even emailed the US distributor for Istanbuls twice and no response. I'm trying to give them money and they won't even return an email!

I'm looking for a couple jazz cymbals- particularly Mel Lewis 19' and 21' Istanbuls and similar sizes by Boshporous. If nobody knows a shop in the area, I'd consider an online source. If anyone endorses either product maybe you could send me an email address for a contact at the company? Thanks.
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Posted 4 Months, 4 Weeks ago
angellovely18
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Posts: 41
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I feel compelled to throw in my 2ยข on this subject. I believe that with regard to 'turkish' and 'turkish-style' cymbals (primarily intended for jazz players) there are a variety of directions one can go, and the market is fairly well flooded now with contemporary possibilities (Bosphorus, Istanbul (Agop and Mehmet), Grand Masters, Turkish, Zildjian's K. Constantinople line, Sabian's Manhattan rides, etc.), each striving to closely approximate the 'old K' (K. Istanbul) mystique: these are generally thinner, very heavily hammered, washier, lower pitched, darker sounding and 'trashier' or more nasal sounding. They certainly won't do for heavily amplified music where you require a heavier, pingier, more focused sound to penetrate through. In my opinion, the ones that have truly excelled in this endeavor have been Bosphorus' Master Series, although each of the other companies mentioned have produced individual winners amongst their stacks, albeit with a lower ratio of keepers to mediocres or outright dogs.

Each of the aforementioned are to be considered 'mass produced' (although this is not to say that they are not hand created/lathed/hammered, at least in part). But the cymbals which are painstakingly produced one at a time (usually one per day), by one craftsman, virtually completely by hand and with an exceedingly close approximation to that 'perfect' vintage jazz pie look, sound and feel are (Roberto) Spizzichino cymbals, my personal favorites. These will occasionally turn up at Joe Cusatis' Modern Drum Shop in Manhattan, occasionally on eBay (or sold directly) from Italy by Spizzichino's friend Luciano Pacchione, and occasionally by a private individual.

Since Bosphorus Masters Series Rides, Istanbul Mel Lewis Rides, and Spizz's are more difficult to come by and generally cost quite a bit more than the mass produced cymbals more readily available at your local music shop, and since these cymbals vary at least as much in sound characteristics from cymbal to cymbal, it behooves you to either wait until you have the opportunity to personally ear-test them before purchasing, or else be quite willing to depend upon the opinion and ear of a trusted one selecting for you.

If you absolutely have no access to a larger drum shop where there may be at least some selection, I'd contact Brian Kaye at Bosphorus and talk to him about the Master Series line, as these are extraordinarily nice jazz
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Posted 4 Months, 4 Weeks ago
HotShot
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Posts: 30
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Mark, Remember, besides the Spizzes, Zildjian's ludicrously over pried K Cons are more money than ANY of the companies that you mentioned. Getting a hold of a Spizz is not that much more plus you have a once in a lifetime cymbal that is a real work of art.
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