Just found a couple videos on youtube from a fellow VDF member :)

I have a set of hats that look identical to those, same colors and wide sections lathe.

On the very outer edge, on the bottom or top, there is the itty bitty tiny Japan stamped into them.

I had a pair of MIJ hats...actually sounded pretty good. They had a unique sound. I'm anxious to get these and hear them. The patina should help darken the sound which I like :)

Mine are very dark and I like them.

Whoever had them before me was making a scratch count on the bell. Don`t know what they were counting but they are there forever.

Made in the late 70s in the Tosco factory which was eventually bought by Robert Zildjian in his moves to start Sabian.

Some are hit, some are misses. The hits are great. All seem to be made with good quality controls, yet the results vary in terms of sound.

I have an 18in CB700 from the Tosco factory - brilliant finish, and among the best sounding 18in crash cymbals I have ever heard of any make/model.

Too bad I can not build a set around that 18 - I tried, but gave up. Never could find a 16 or 20 or HHs that sounded as good.

Your HHs should sound good though, just not quite to the quality of that 18 I have.

20s of this type sound good --- as crashes, but are actually pitched higher than the 18 (bizarre and not a good match at all). Too wet as a ride.

The 16s of this type sound fair to ok - too bowly (a reference to the shape of the cymbal and the resulting sound - which is undesirable to me).

That's my take. You are welcome to try to find good specimens of these CB700s from the Tosco factory, but beware that your results will vary widely - which is a high risk endeavor when buying unheard.

You will find a demo on my YT channel (drhappyyy) of my entire set of these that I put together - but it does not include the 20 that I had, which did not make the cut - for a reason (pitch, poor ride performance).

Late NOTE: Metal samples have been sent to Zenstat for analysis - to determine the alloy makeup. No results returned yet, but I am sure he will publicize once he gets results (unless he wants to keep a secret.......na...he probably could not keep something like that secret!!) ;)

Hope this helps.

Yes he will publicize the results when the lab gets the analysis done. Thanks for reminding me I need to send a follow up email. I'm waiting on the lab results for a dozen samples including yours and one of the old Japanese cymbals which says [SIZE="5"]K[/SIZE]ingston on the top and has a JAPAN stamp in the bell.

Thanks for detailed info...I appreciate it. I got the hats and they sound decent. To my ear they sound more like b8 than b20. The other one was supposed to be a 16" crash but ended up being a 20" ride. I actually like how it sounds. I put up a demo on YouTube under my username on here. I checked out your demo video...sounded great!