I`ve had a few Stambul cymbals over the years- if they sound good to you then you`re lucky- you got a good pair. They are a student line from Paiste as far as I have been told from what I believe are the late 60s/early 70s.

If you do a google search you might be able to find a thread somewhere telling more but I believe the metal is either B8 bronze or a nickel alloy.

If you do a flex test you are likely to see them as quite flexible. I think they are a fun way to get in and explore a vintage cymbal for cheap but the ones I have had weren`t ones I thought of as gems. How about posting a pic?

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Ooooh- actually these are pretty rare FYI because they are the Stambul 65's !!! Stambuls up until then were NS12 Nickelbronze alloy and although 'top-line' (they were a notch better than Standards) they were still of that alloy so not very good. The 65's were the first run of Paiste using a decent alloy - B8 is correct - and this cymbal was the start of Paiste becoming serious about producing good stuff as opposed to just inexpensive mediocre cymbals en masse. Many Paistephiles consider these in a sense to be the prototypes of both the 2002's and the 602's - they have the 602 hammerng & look and feel like B8-alloy 602's. They also remind some of what 2002's would be if they were thinner. These are pretty nice and not many of 'em around - a pair of hats is worth a good $150-200 ![/COLOR]

that`s awesome to hear and good follow up information too- 602`s are just so expensive right now. I dream about finding a hidden score of em. Congrats on these.

Actually Stambul 65s were the top line B8 cymbal before the Giant Beat and later 2002s. The 602 was out in the 50's, well before the Stambul 65's were out and were always B20 alloy. So, the 602s were the more probable influence on the hammering, rather than the other way around as you stated. Paiste didn't quite have it right with the B8 alloy with the 65s....it took them until the Giant Beat series to get on the right track. They finally got it right with the 2002 series when they combined 602 hammering techniques with the Giant Beat concept (their words, not mine).

This is all good information. Thanks

That's some great information. I've posted a some pics.

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Thanks for the clarification. It always seemed to me that the hammering of the NS12 Stambuls looked an awful lot like the 602 hammering....So you are saying that 602's were around concurrently with NS12 Stambuls, then ? Because my understanding is that Stambuls changed from NS12 to B8 in '65....they weren't discontinued then reintroduced in a different alloy. Interesting, interesting that they would offer 602's and NS12 Stambuls for a while simultaneously....

The thing which is attractive about the Stambul 65's is their weight........which for many might be more appropriate that the weights of the 2002's.....Not being a heavy hitter, the 65's 'speak' more easily than 2002's, and feel a bit better under the stick, IMHO.....[/COLOR]

Here's some pics of my 14" Stambul 65 Hats.

They are thin sounding. Was actually thinking of putting them on Ebay recently.

I just don't seem to use them much anymore as there are some other hats higher up the pecking order these days.