I never noticed that. Not sure if there was a standard. Many, if not most cymbals from that period that I'm aware of had rivets installed after they left the factory. When I started playing as a young teen in 1959 I had my local music store install 6 into my 18" A. I personally don't recall seeing many cymbals for sale with rivets already installed. I've always considered around 2 inches as the starting point. Perhaps others with a different experience could chime in.

Anytime ... every time ... I've had rivets installed in my cymbals through the years (60s-present), the gent would lay a drum rim on top of the cymbal and mark the spots for drilling. That's the only way I know it to be done. It pretty much guarantees an even and balanced spacing of the rivets. The specific drum rim used was based on the size of the cymbal.

I have seen that done too. I have also seen a laminated paper stencil be used as well, almost like a circular graph in mathematics.

I think the "standard" from Zildjian is 1.5" in from the edge. I usually go about 1". It gives the rivets a bit more presence and sustain. The further in from the edge you go, the more subtle the rivet sound and the rivet sustain is shortened (by small degrees, of course), simply because the cymbal vibrates the most at the edge, and the least at the bell. I have bought used cymbals that have the holes about halfway between the edge and the start of the bell, and those sound good too (albeit subtle and not as sustaining). Also, the more rivets you have, the more pronounced and less sustain the rivets will have.

There is no right or wrong way to eat a Reese's.... I mean rivet a cymbal!

All of us have obviously have had our own experiences over the years which overlap to one degree or another. I personally think that rivets shouldn't be as close as 1" from the edge. However the OP was asking about rivets on '50s vintage cymbals which he suggested were much closer to the bell than they are generally today...as if it was a standard for the time. I'm not aware that such a standard existed and don't recall that rivets were placed significantly differently than they are now. But I do admit to limited experience with '50s cymbals that were riveted at the factory. I do currently have a 20" '50s Large Stamp which I got from Drumaholic with a few installed rivets. I'll measure them, but I'm guessing they weren't put in at the factory

Thanks everyone.I never really thought about buyers having the rivets installed at the drum shop.I always just assumed thay would come from the factory considering rivet cymbals used to be so much more popular than they are today.

I just figured i had an old 50's zildjian i got from Ben at Maxwell drums years ago and the rivets seemed to be mounted closer to the bell than normal.Also Paul Motians old Zildjian has the same thing so i just assumed they made em' different in the "good old days"

I've put rivets into a few dozen cymbals for myself and others over the last 50 years. Its not that hard.