Thanks Tim. I've seen photos of some SCs with both the die stamp logo and the ink logo. Another kind of "transitional" state.

Love the SCDR in context in that song, and it underscores the point many people do about the SCDR: don't judge it in isolation. It comes alive in the musical context with other instruments.

I put my 602 Transitional 22" dark ride on eBay, mistakenly as a SC. I got an informed message from Dick the Osteopath (his name on Cymbalholic, I'm Tingles on there) who let me in on it being a late model 602. In any case, I removed it from sale.. One reason was that I hadn't given it a chance playing/listening to it, and the other was I told the person I bought it from that I planned on playing it and using it, but if it didn't do it for me I might sell it. I didn't feel I'd given it a chance and didn't want to feel guilty or stupid for selling it before I had given it a chance.

Recently I had the opportunity to play with a blues band project, and elsewhere in a jam improvisation project. The cymbal sounded outstanding in every instance except that during a jam in a person's house, it was putting out more wash and volume than the other cymbals on that kit, which was a Pearl Traveler set.

Lately it is my go-to cymbal. I have never, ever played a cymbal that is so good at so many different things. It sounds GREAT in the blues band, the bell cuts through, you can play jazz or you can just improvise and play beat oriented music. When you lay into it it crashes well. Really this is a jack of all trades but also a master at plenty.

$650 is a high price, but consider the minimal amount of otherwise very fine Paiste cymbals that are manufactured that are not made of the B20 bell bronze alloy. Top that off with this one being the go-to cymbal for the likes of Jack DeJohnette, Al Foster, Paul Motian, (at least during very important times for them) and that sells this cymbal at $650 every bit as well as Tony Williams, Art Blakey, and whoever, sells an Isty K (which is an exceedingly inconsistent--but still potentially a great--cymbal) for $2000+!.

For the record, I am one of those people who believe that cymbals should never be overlooked on one's drumset. You put them on the stand and they have various sounds they make but you can't put various drum heads on them or something and make them sound good. So I would pay $2000, maybe, if I had the discretionary income and it was THE cymbal for me; which is why it was a no-brainer for me to at least give the 22" DR a shot at it (I am a bargain hunter, though, so I won't just snap up something at retail price before putting in serious footwork and trying to get a good deal on it first).

I have some other rides but this is the one I take whenever I'm going to go play and I want to have the ride cymbal contribute to the beauty of the sound of the music that's being played.