Not certain there is a way to tell if they're Newbeats without the ink stamp. Not sure when they started using the "Newbeats" term. The 70's? I think the fact that the top hat was lighter than the bottom.

If there are 4 extra holes in the bottom hat, they're "Quick Beats".

there were new beats in the 60's. the bottom hats were stamped as new beat bottoms at times. the tops were not stamped as such in the 60's that I am aware of. weights vary. but for general calculations, the ratio is usually "around" 70 percent top hat to bottom.

mike

my New Beat history page:

http://black.net.nz/avedis/new-beats.html#NBtop

and I presume that bottom weight is a typo and it is 1100 grams.

Note: I've got some new information which isn't in there yet...but this will do for now.

I did say roughly :)

The link you sent answered all my questions and then some. Thanks so much.

OMG!

When I was around 12 (in 1983) my Dad took me to a local Drum shop and I picked out a pair of Zildjian HH's. At the time I loved them and had no idea about the details of them apart from they were unmarked Zildjian HH's. I was unexperienced and only realised over time that these were a particularly heavy set of hats.

Ok so over the years I have picked up that they are probably New Beats. Great. Until now!

I've just stumbled over this thread, read up on the Zentstats link etc checked the weights and my "Top" is 1190g and my "Bottom" is 1388g!

So all these years I've been running on Bottoms!! Or are they just a super heavy pair?

If they are a pair of Bottoms I have no idea how on earth I will find Tops to match them.

BTW they look a bit like 60's models. Any sticker/transfer has long been polished away.

Don't fret. I've documented lots more variation in the weight of tops and bottoms within each production era than has previously been suspected. For example 70s era ones with tops weighing in at 1086 and 1190 over 1488 and 1477 respectively. Yours are in the observed variation for tops and bottoms, although at top being 86% of bottom weight they are out on the edge of the distribution. But if they sound good to you then that's all you really need to know.

If you did want to get a new top then both tops and bottoms appear for sale as orphans. Usually in the range $50 to $80 on eFlay. You could pick up one top and use it over either bottom depending on the sound you wanted. But be warned: this way lies the madness of hat matching. Once you go down the rabbit hole you find dozens of mix and match pairs are possible.

Thank you Zenstat.

Yeah I love them to this day, although for a moment there I thought I been duped for the last 3 decades!

They're not my main hats anymore, I have a new pair that I gig with that sound and feel incredible.