I know it's more or less a crap shoot identifying engraved stamps on A. Zildjians prior to 1977 or so, including some random and various ink stamps like "Thin", "Dance", "Top Hi-Hat" etc. I'd like your help on this filling in some holes, noting odd anomalies that I haven't mentioned etc.

I do know that they started standardizing the ink stamps with the "hollow logo" or "hollow ink" era, which to the best of my knowledge went from 1977 to 1983. Zildjian did not date their catalogs back then, so I have an old catalog with hollow logos shown, but no date, not even a small copyright date! So the 77 to 83 range is just a guess. The hollow logo was just designating the model on the top in block stamp lettering (no size or other word mark) and a hollow, outlined, non-colored in Zildjian logo on the bottom. Two curious notes from my personal collection:

1. All the Zildjian logos were the same size, be it a 12" splash or a 22" ride. The only exceptions being 8" and 10" splashes. I have both an 8" and 10" Hollow Logo Era splash (both just say "Splash" on the top in the era appropriate block lettering). The 8" has no logo on the bottom, and the 10" has a small, colored in Zildjian logo on the bottom. It looks to be original, and does not appear to be the handiwork of an over-zealous previous owner and a Sharpie. It has faded with the patina of the cymbal, and the logo is so small, the ink is just too perfect for it to be done by a human hand.

2. I have a Hollow Logo 22" Swish, and the top is stamped "Swish" in the era appropriate block lettering, but is also stamped "Medium Thin" in the skinnier, older type lettering. Weird.

In 1984, A. Zildjians began the "Block Stamp" era, which was the same block lettering as the hollow logo era, but with a size indicated and Zildjian logo on the top of the cymbal. The bottom of the cymbal had a much larger and colored in Zildjian logo (at least 16" and up were much larger on the bottom). I believe this era went until 1994-1995, right around the time Zildjian started putting ID numbers on the stamps. I know for sure by 1984 the A's were being stamped like this. I have Louie Bellson's "The Musical Drummer" on VHS (one of DCI's first instructional videos, if not THE first -since re-released on DVD) and that was recorded/released in 1984. Louie's A's are all block stamp in that video.

The next era is what I call the "Transitional Block Stamp". I believe it was only around for a year or two, in the mid-90's, again lining up with about the time Zildjian starting putting ID numbers on the stamps. This "transition" was the same as the block stamp, but with the addition of "Avedis" on top of the cymbal (the small, cursive A on top of the cymbal was not yet present). I own one transition block stamp, and it does not have an ID number. Most I have seen don't, although I thought I remember seeing a few that did. What say you?

Then came the "Cursive A" stamp, which went from the mid-90's until 2012. The font of the model lettering changed, and a small, cursive "A" was also added next to the model designation. The exception to this was the Armand Series, which had smaller Zildjian logos on the bottom, and did not have the word "Avedis" on the top of the cymbal, along with a slightly different font for the model designation. The Armand Series (save for the 19" "Beautiful Baby" ride) has been discontinued in 2013. As an aside, sometime in the late 90's, Zildjian began laser engraving the stamps and ID numbers into the cymbal, rather than just "stamping" them in.

That brings us to today, which I call the "Large A" era. "Avedis" has disappeared from the top of the cymbal, and the font to the model designation has changed again, along with a large, centered cursive A, much like on the A. Custom.

I would love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, corrections, stories etc.

Thanks!

V