Hi Jeff,

Wow, interesting information. The 'UFIP made 'em' information is all over the web, but since it is on Wikipedia, that's probably why. Tosco's huh? Interesting... Regardless of who made them, they are still a cut above the normal cruddy stuff that came with entry level kits of the time.

Wayne: Did you ever get the snare? I've had a couple of the early CB 700 snares with ten keyhole or whatever you call them lugs. They surprised me not only in the build quality but also they way they sound. Like I've said earlier, Early CB 700 kits are not bad at all, and do go for dirt cheap even after they are cleaned up. I had a huge kit with a 24" bass that I sold for less than $400.00 which may seem high, but was chump change for what came with the kit.

Fish; I did not get that snare drum, but my eyes are open and i,ll be sure to snag the next one!!

Yes, I would definitely agree that the EARLY CB-700 stuff, whether drums, cymbals or other percussion, is generally MUCH better than what the new "CB Percussion" has to offer, much less anyone else. Heck, if an old CB kit came across my path right now at the right price, I would totally buy it as a restoration project.

Well, perhaps the early CB700 cymbals were not made by UFIP?? We at least know that they were made in Italy because of the stamp on the under belly. Meanwhile, remember this reference - as all the companies that UFIP made cymbals for.

There IS another era of CB700 cymbals out there, with CB700 and CBPercussion and what-not all over them - in black ink. Those are modern and have long been attributed to Taiwan and considered just short of junk. Doubt that UFIP made those....so what does that leave??

Like I said, we can at least attribute old CB700 cymbals to be made in at least Italy. Some of these are golden, though I have never been too fond of the HHs. Perhaps some of their HHs were good, some not so good?? I have only played a 14s and 15s, two pairs total in my life. Perhaps there are some good ones out there??

For those who are interested.....I might as well mention that I am selling 3 of these right now in the FS section. Yup - shameless promo!

John

Yeah. The ones I emailed to UFIP for inspection were the ones that said made In Italy. All I know is that Mr. Biasei said that THOSE were never a part of their production.

Incidentally, I see the attribution of the Ciclone brand on the scanned photo. I recently (six months ago) saw a Zanchi F & F crash with that name stamped on it as well. At the time I thought it said Cicione, rather than CICLONE.

Since this seems to be about cymbals maybe you experts can tell me what a MX Series CB cymbals mean to you?..Are they new or old or ...what?

That's the hi hat set (CB-700 MX) that I had on my grandsons set for a while. They were kind of thick if I remember correctly. I found a set of Paiste 505's in a lighter 13" set for nothing (nearly) and swapped out the CB's.

Shoot, I may still have them in the shed... I'll look, and if there, report back.

Forgot to tell you... All the CB 700 and MX series cymbals I've seen were old.

Nope, those cymbals are not there, I must have gotten rid of them. One thing I did find in my shed was one of the ten lug CB 700 snares. But, this is a later one with the generic Pearl style lugs. The build quality is much less on these than on the keyhole or wristwatch lug types.

My suggestion is wait and find one of those, don't get the type with the Pearl type lugs.

This is an interesting line of thought on these drums.I owned an early CB 700 set around 1982 12/14/20 with a wood snare.Bought for $75 and used as a GB set on jazz gigs etc.At the time I considered them "something to hit" but never spent any money on heads,worked on edges etc-I have owned more costly drums that served me far worse-Mapex,Premier XPK,even the custom-built Eames drums were probematic(my fault,not theirs).The CB's were just "sloggers".As I think back,wood bass hoops and Pearl spurs woud have fixed the issues.

The wood snare was a 6-lug 5X14 in the same wine red covering.Just another luan slogger with a tip style throw.

I'm telling you, those early CB 700's are nice drums. I'd put them in the same category as Gretsch Catalina's or the better PDP's (before they moved 'em to Asia). I don't think I've ever seen a wood snare from that era... thinking about it, I don't think I've ever knowingly seen a CB wood snare. Or a smaller sized drum kit for that matter. Everything I saw was 22, 12, 13, 16, 14 snare, except for that huge kit I had last year.