That has to be the coolest looking ink stamp on a cymbal that I've ever seen! I wish I had a pair of those. I got these cymbals in Ireland and they've definitely been in Ireland pre eBay. That's all I can say. They came with a Ludwig kit I bought locally. They used to belong to a drummer of some Irish rock band back in the 80's and had been collecting dust since they disbanded in the early 90's. The two heavy cymbals might have been good with the rock band. I don't know who matched the cymbals up, but you're probably right in thinking they originally came from UK. We were slow to catch on to the idea of matching cymbals for Hi Hats here I guess. Or I should say in England. In Ireland we still haven't caught on. We just get whatever the Brits and the Americans make. When I went to pick up the kit I saw the hats and thought..what are they? UFIP. Old Ajaha? Then I saw the stamp with K Istanbul and couldn't get my wallet out quick enough. Seller had no idea.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dCE1no1GfE"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dCE1no1GfE[/ame]

Top is a bit on the heavy side. Still old Ks though.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuDXEZqzgC0"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuDXEZqzgC0[/ame]

And just as I sold these old 50's Super-Zyn with the big bell. May have even been a 14" crash, but nice and trashy, would have been interesting to pair it with the K bottom.

Those K's have a nice bark. And the "chip" they've got will never fail.

And I also have a pair of those 14" Super Zyn hats with the big bells; I should show them here sometime. In fact they're the only 14's that I own. Most would swear they were old K's by both sound and appearance, until shown the trademark, which isn't easy to see unless you close enough. But they kill.

Amazing cymbals! I should really learn to hold onto them. I sell them and buy old A's instead which I like, but I do prefer the sound of Super Zyn. They play so nicely. I miss the sound. Any pair that I've had in the past have had that great sound in them. They're very mellow cymbals. Just great! I'd use them for everything. Hang onto your ones. Finest hats I've played.

With regard to matching at the Gretsch warehouse/factory in Brooklyn, it does beg the question on the effort and parameters used for the matching. Was it simply matching a thinner top to a slightly heavier bottom? Was it based on how they sounded together? Was it a combination of the two? Or, was it just a question of pulling 2 cymbals out of stock and packaging them together as a pair. Which scenario was used may have varied by who was doing the selecting and how busy they were. I wonder if Phil Grant himself actually matched them. or if others used his stamp for marketing purposes. When it comes to business practices, color me non-trusting.