Would have to say Zildjians (no A's at the time... just Zildjian.) By the '70s, Paiste was starting to take hold in the rock world, but more with 2002 and Giant Beats.

But it was Zildjian all the way. Apart from Paiste nipping at their heels, all the other brands and offshoots ran a distant third among drummers. Nothing like the last 30 years, where brands like Sabian, Meinl, and Istanbul became very prominent, and more recently Chinese cymbals are making a big splash (punxymoron intended.)

Do we really need a few dozen quality brands? Probably not... I'd say that Sabian, Zildjian and eventually Meinl have broad enough product lines to cover almost every situation. No there aren't Spizz or Keplinger type cymbals in there, but those are pretty far off the radar anyway.

Bermuda

It does depend on what branch of music you are talking about and where it was being played.

If it is strictly the early R&R years----I would think, that economics and easy availability played a role with some players, so A. Zildjian and Paiste and Zyn and Zanchi were there.

Jazz circles would have been a mix of A. Zildjian and K. Zildjian with some Ajahas and Zanchis floating around.

Often, it's related to where there was a dealer. There was a Zanchi dealer in Ottawa, so you see used Zanchis around that area.

In Europe ,Super Zyn was a factor( also in N.A. over time too). Alot of jazz drummers favoured them----UFIP, Zanchi,Paiste.

but I would agree that A. Zildjian was the predominant one. Paiste was never as much of a factor as they are now because until 602's came out ,Paiste didn't have a fully competetive high end cymbal. 602's ,didn't really catch on until the 70's----they were expensive and had a reputation for cracking. UFIP emerged in the mid. to late 60's also but were marketed as a somewhat budget cymbal. They were better than they're price indicated ,though.Twice the cymbal of a Stanople or Stambul, at the same price.