I have a really good chance to pick up a Stambul 65 really cheap. For some reason whenever I think of B8, I think of cheap beginner's cymbals. But from the above comments, I gather that that might not be the case with this. The seller says it has a beautiful vintage sound, and is on the dry side. I've been looking for a dry sounding ride for my jazz playing. Hmmm, maybe this is the one...

P.S. It is a 20" ride. Its an online sale, so I'm not able to hear it.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]lf it's in good shape - GRAB lT ! lt's bascally a B8 wth 602 hammering - if it doesn't suit you l'll happily buy it off you and you can make a profit Cool Dude[/COLOR]

I also recently found an old Paiste Stambul Cymbal. I believe it's part of a hi-hat set or maybe just a 14" crash ? But it sounds reall unique as a hi-hat, even when using it on top of a piece of crap verve bottom hat ! I recently sold two sets of Zildjian hi-hats, 13" zbt's and 14" Edge models. I prefer the sound of this Paiste over either of the sets I sold. Unfortunately, I play Rolands and don't really use acoustic stuff anymore. The stamp on my cymbal is different than the one pictured. It's more BOLD and has a moon and star below the stamp with "trade mark" Paiste and SWISS MADE on it also.

re-opening this old thread to clear some things up.

Paiste Stambul '65 and Stambul were always two different, distinct cymbal lines and of a different quality. For some reason (most likely the name) over the years the history of these lines has gotten jumbled together to a large degree unfortunately, with most people thinking the Stambul '65 simply replaced the NS12 Stambul outright in 1965.

This is not the case in actuality.

The Stambul '65 was the predecessor to the Giant Beat as mentioned above and was a higher-priced offering and of a higher quality than a B8 Stambul. Stambul '65 was made from 1965 until around 1973, they probably "officially" went out of production in late 1971 or early 1972 after the release of the 2002s. Definitely deleted by 1974 as the line does not appear in the 1974 Paiste catalog I have. But, I have seen a few with later serial numbers, probably leftovers that got numbered after initial production or maybe special orders (I see the same with the original Giant Beats).

Stambul '65s should be considered an upper-midline class cymbal bordering on professional quality. The cymbals came in two main weight designations Thin Crash and Medium Ride (and there were also marching and concert cymbals). The Stambul '65s came in a somewhat limited amount of standard sizes. They are a very good option for someone wanting a vintage B8 cymbal because they sound really nice and the fact that they get lumped in with the lower level Stambuls helps to keep their prices down, imho.

The regular Stambul line, once the alloy was switched to B8 (probably in or shortly after 1966) from Ns12 was a strictly midline offering priced under the Stambul '65 in the Paiste catalogs of the late 60s and in 1970. The regular Stambul line was made until the end of 1977 or very early in 1978 when it was replaced by the 505s as the midline Paiste B8 cymbal. They are somewhat similar to but not the same as 505s. Confusion regarding the degree of similarity is caused by leftover Stambuls from 1977 being restamped in ink above the bell as 505s and sold off in 1978 when Paiste switched its lower B8 lines from Dixie to 404 / Stambul to 505 / and at the bottom of the barrel, SUPER to 101 (Ns12).

The B8 Stambuls came in a huge range of sizes (10" - 26") in Thin, Medium, and Heavy weights and there were also marching and concert cymbals as well as marching and concert Chinas. The Ludwig Standards are more akin to this "regular" Stambul line, not to the Stambul '65.

So, the Paiste lineup in the very late 1960s and until the release of the 2002 in late 1971 was as follows

Formula 602

Giant Beat

Stambul '65

Stambul (Ludwig Standards were Stambuls or a Stambul-like cymbal)

Dixie (Paiste Stanoples sold through Ludwig were Dixies or a Dixie-like cymbal)

SUPER

After the release of 2002, the lineup became more streamlined (with 2002 making both GB and S'65 obsolete) and by Jan. 1974 was

Formula 602

2002

Stambul

Dixie

SUPER

Toward the end of the decade, the lineup changed again looking like this by the end of 1978

Sound Creation

Formula 602

2002

505

404

101 (not sold in the USA)

Hi Monkeyboy

very interesting read about the paiste line. You commented on my stambul 65 cymbal 22" ride some time back. I still have the cymbal and from my ears sounds just fabulous. I cant even see myself ever selling this cymbal. keep up the good work on the paiste cymbal history.

There is a 20" up for sale on CL here in Davis for $150. Is that the one y'all are looking at?

This is a resurrect of a 2009 thread so if it is the same cymbal that would be interesting, to say the least.

The URL of the CL Davis offering:

https://sacramento.craigslist.org/msg/d/davis-vintage-paiste-stambul-ride/6946705397.html

The CL ad includes the sort of seller hype which MonkeyBoy827 has been working diligently to overcome with more accurate historical evidence based on catalogs and price lists, so it is timely to see the contrast.

I'm a little confused by the descriptions. Monkeyboy says that the regular Stambul line is B8 after 1966, but also that it is much like the Ludwig Standard. I thought that the Ludwig Standard was NS, which I would expect to make it quite different. Is he trying to say that regular Stambuls before 1966 are similar to the Ludwig Standards? That would make sense... or are there some B8 Ludwig Standards that I'm not aware of?

The CL ad is clearly for a Stambul65. So maybe that cymbal is of interest to a few people here? I've never been a fan of B8 cymbals, so it doesn't interest me. Seems like a nice price, though, based on MB's description.