Hi Erik. Here's some info taken from Wikipedia.

Dragon - Introduced in 1984 as part of the Profile series, the Dragon series was hand made in China and finished in Germany. They came in two variations: the "Single Dragon" were Chinese style cymbals, and the "Double Dragon" were Turkish style cymbals." Now, since yours has a 2 dragon logo, i'm assuming it's the "double dragon" version, but i could be wrong. The again, your cymbal does look like a "Chinese style" cymbal because of the hammering and it's similar appearance to a Wuhan cymbal hammering, so it could be a "single dragon".

Thanks human71 - i have subsequently established that this is a double dragon and that they are apparently B20 alloy and not B8. It is the most extraordinary cymbal that I have ever played - it is super trashy, dark and quick - very different to what I'm used to. I used it at a mic'd up gig yesterday as a primary crash in one song but changed back to an 18" Paiste Twenty crash thereafter. In my in-ears it did not sound like it actually cut through enough - it may just have been my ears though. However, for cymbal swells it absolutely rules - love it!

No problem. I heard they were decent sounding cymbals. I'm a Paiste guy myself. I just picked up a Twenty series 17" thin crash that had a 3/4 crack at the edge, but still sounds great. The Twenty series are great cymbals, that are very dark and have a slight trashiness to them. But it's quite thick and heavier than other series thin crashes. Twenty series cymbals all have that trait. I actually rode on that 17" thin crash on a gig this past week end and it sounded fantastic. Also, the fact that it has a dark tone, makes it sound like an 18" crash, which i love. I'm going to have it repaired in the future to prevent further cracking., and will keep it in my arsenal.

cheers,

Rob

Hey Rob, good to find another Twendy series fan Clapping Happy2

I have 3 Twenty crashes, a 16" and 18" which where from the first launch - they are great. I don't normally use 16" crashes but this one I do sometimes for the exact reason that you mentioned - they sound bigger than what they are. I love that dark trashy sound with the Paiste sparkle on top. Then I also have a 20" Twenty Custom full crash which is a beast of note. This one gets the most stand time. I normally use it in my 2 crash cymbal set up as my "dark" crash along with either a 20" 2002 crash or medium. They compliment each other very nicely.

My other Twenty is a 20" Ride (also from the first launch models) - it is my favourite 20" ride that I own (I prefer 22" rides generally), especially for live playing due to it's wide spread from bell to edge, the killer bell on it and the very present wash that never gobbles up the ping.

I am looking for a set of 16" Twenty hats still - maybe if I can find a 16" Twenty Thin crash, I can pair it up with my 16" crash as a bottom. And then of course, the elusive 22" Twenty thin ride - man, those sound good!

Cheers

Erik

I had one of these Double Dragon Meinls years ago, and it was the darkest, trashiest ride you can imagine. In the end, it was too trashy for me and I sold it.

Those cymbals were made back in the days of China's infancy when it came to making Western style cymbals. They were just getting their feet wet and much of the stuff they made in those days was pretty bad. Since then, they've made great strides in producing better quality cymbals, like the Dream Bliss and Stagg stuff. I have almost a full set of Stagg cymbals that I bought for a song, and they aren't bad at all. I bought another Stagg ride about six months ago for $50.