505:

Released: 1978

Discontinued: 1987

Description: Intermediate level. Bright, loud, focused. Similar to 2002, but less sustain and complexity.

Material: B8

Hammering: Medium, regular, density increases towards center

Lathing: Shallow, sparse

recovered from the RaBe cymbal page:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130206055824/http://home.mnet-online.de/cymbalism/cymbalism/cymbals/series/Paiste.html#505

which died a few years back, but was at least backed up -- unlike the Paiste-Only site which was not backed up at all. I know RB and his work is sound. I might look at re-hosting his info on Paiste on my site after restoring the images. Or I can just hope that the Paiste-Only-Wiki comes back.

Thanks for the info, Zen!!

Cheers

After getting sick of replacing broken Zildjian A crashes during my 70's-80's road days, I replaced them with a 16 + 18 505. Never broke one. I think the description is accurate. "Shimmery" Paiste tone. I was told they were 2002's made on an automated line, and I'd say that's also accurate.

Back in the early 80's, I did a blind sound test on all the 22" ride cymbals that West Coast Drums had in stock. My friend would plop one on the stand and I would play it. I ended up buying the 505 heavy ride. Played it for over 20 years, then grew tired of the ping heavy sound. I play a 21" Paiste Signature Full ride, that was requested to be made slightly darker by an endorsee.

Some solid work by RaBe but definitely errors regarding some of the dates given and some of the information is off.

Myself and a couple of other like-minded individuals have been diving deep into the early history of Paiste for the last few months and have unearthed some good information and are still digging.

For instance, Stambul is the oldest Paiste line not Stanople. Paiste has been making Stambuls since the 1930s when they were in Estonia. Stambuls were the top line Paiste until the introduction of the Fo602s.

Fast forward to post WWII (start of modern Paiste times), I have the 1950 and 1952 Paiste catalogs from Germany and they were selling Stambuls and Zilkos prior to Stanople. I believe Zilko became the Standard line and then reverted back to the Zilko name when Ludwig Standards were introduced to avoid confusion. No mention of this line from RaBe or the more budget Zilkets which were around in the late 1960s.

Oddly enough, I have a good collection of Paiste material from the 1950s and 1960s and none of it shows Stanople on offer. You don't see Stanople ever mentioned until the 1967 Ludwig catalog. So obviously I am missing part of the puzzle regarding this line.

To the best of my knowledge, the Super line was never made of B20, only NS12 and then later B8. Just like all of the old Paiste lines which survived into the mid '70s like Stambul and Dixie. All were NS12 in the '50s until the mid-60s and then at some point they started using B8 instead. There was a predecessor to the F602s caller Super F602 which was B20 - maybe that's where the confusion lies.

As for 505 (and 404) still some debate as to when they lines actually started. Some say 1974, some say 1978. I think the answer lies somewhere in between with 1975 or 1976 possibly being correct (the time period Paiste switched over to Rogers for US distribution). I also think it's possible that they were made in Switzerland first and then Germany started making them in 1978. Still researching this point. I do know the German factory was still offering Super, Dixie and Stambul in 1976.

Also regarding 505 they replaced the regular Stambul line. Not the Stambul '65 line. I have yet to see a leftover Stambul '65 with a 505 stamp but plenty of Stambuls that do have them. The '65 were a higher priced and better line than Stambul and were discontinued first to the best of my knowledge. Stambul lasted longer was replaced by 505 as Dixie was replaced by 404.

Also 400/1000/2000/3000 lines were released in 1986 not 1987. I have the price sheets and ad material that supports this. 404 and 505 were still available in 1986 as well during the changeover.

Monkeyboy That was a great read. I also like all the info Zenstat offers as regards paiste and zildjian. Thanks guys for giving us bashers info on cymbal lines and history. Much appreciated.....sean