Here's one everybody missed:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1960s-Signed-TURKISH-Made-19-Brass-THIN-RIDE-CYMBAL-/200815181086?pt=Vintgae_Drums_Percussion&hash=item2ec1847d1e&nma=true&si=mI88i%2BHHuhiwQSyCDNdqjt7s7%2F8%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

As with all cymbals, the modern UFIP have many different series, last year, I gave into the hype and bought a Rough series 18" and it was the best sounding cymbal I own. Clean, crisp, sharp crash with just the right amount of sustain and fade. I since have bought a 17" as well. I do have a vinatge 20" ride UFIP I'm selling, because I tend to favor the crash rides more. PM me if interested. G

Wow...I was not at the computer all weekend due to gigs only to come back and find all of these replies...thanks! Lots of good insight and info that is much appreciated. As mentioned, I was looking into some UFIP hats. Here is a pic below of the cymbal/stamp. Can anyone tell me how old these are?

Slingerland...let's talk about that ride. I'll reply to your PM.

[IMG]http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m530/ElMoonlightDrummer/Cymbals/UFiP12.jpg[/IMG]

That's a "pyramid" die stamp. The Est. 1847 refers to the casting of bells (as in bells for Churches in Europe). There's a long history there.

I've never found out when the "pyramid" was first used, last used, and if there are variations within that time. My oldest UFiPs have that die stamp plus Made in Italy in a circle underneath (also stamped in). My later UFiP has that die stamp but not the Made in Italy underneath. The bell shape of that one looks like my later one, and very different from the two much older ones. The much older ones also have some obvious small hammering on them. I'll see if I can find some pics to show this.

People talk about the older style as being 1950s or 1960s, and the ones like you show being 1960s or maybe 1970s. But I've never seen the basis for dating them like this.

I also have a "modern" pair of light 14" hats (750g/805g) from the Experience series which have the die stamp which looks like the ink you see on UFiPs. I don't know when they switched to the "modern" die stamp, although that would at least give you an answer like "it is older than xxxx".

According to the Cymbal Book, UFiP went through a relaunch of their series around 1990, moving from the Ritmo (introduced in 1968) and Solid series to their current series like Class, Natural, etc. But the book is silent on whether the pyramid logo was used before the 1990s or if that's when it changed. There are some Ritmo hats currently on eBay which show a Ritmo die stamped logo and what I'm calling the more "modern" UFiP die stamp:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280930328432?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[img]http://black.net.nz/cym2012/ufipritmo.jpg[/img]

I don't know what the Solid series had at that time. Maybe if somebody has a Solid series from that time, they can let us know.

Here are some older UFIP hats which have the additional small hammer marks I'm talking about. They also show the pyramid die stamp and the Made in Italy die stamp if you look carefully at the bottom of the photo.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-UFIP-14-INCH-HI-HAT-CYMBALS-1950S-OR-1960S-/221132585836

[img]http://black.net.nz/cym2012/ufiphat.jpg[/img]

I just got a pair of UFIP Ritmo hi hats the other day. They have a different stamp to the ones in the ebay link. I'm assuming they came with the kit I bought (early 70s Premier). I took them to the studio last night for a rehearsal and they are very good and quite similar in look and sound to the 70s Zildjian As I have there. The previous owner had the heavier one on top and had obviously played them that way for a long time judging by the patina. They didn't sound too hot set up like that. As soon as I switched them around they sounded great.

Nice to hear about more NZ based older UFiPs. Yes Sir

The Cymbal Book rather baldly says Solid = K or HH; Ritmo = A or AA. Thus it makes sense to me that the Ritmo would sound like As from the 1970s.

I have to confess that my light Experience hats work best for me with the heavier one (805g) on top and the lighter (750g) underneath, and they came to me with T and B inked on them. I started out using them the other way around, but changed after experimentation.

good to know. Mine may be a bit heavier but I'll grab them when I'm next at the studio and weigh them. They seemed dry and a bit dead to my ears with the heavy cymbal on top. I'd say they are almost the same weight as the As that I have too.

It's always nice to get an interesting cymbal with a kit purchase. Usually I end up with no name bendy things or nothing at all so it's a bonus when i get something that is quality.

One thing that is special about UFIP cymbals is the rotocast manufacturing technique. Zanki used the same technique but Zanki closed down in early 90's.

Read some about it at Google Books.

Visit the UFIP web-site: http://en.ufip.it/

I have an 18" UFIP Crash-Ride that I bought in 1981.

It is in this picture from a studio back in 1982:

[IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vnZB1fW-Z3o/UHhIzdTZlMI/AAAAAAAABy4/cvETJ9NesNA/s1024/DSCN4843.PNG[/IMG]

I still have it and I like it.

It is the one closest to the camera, to the right in the picture.

Next to it is an 18" Zanki Ping.

Then comes a 16" Zildjian Thin-Crash.

And finally a 14" Paiste 2002 Crash.

The Hi-Hat is 14" Zanki.

I still have the cymbals but since then I have got a few more cymbals.

The drums were replaced in 1983 by this Aria Percussion kit, that I still have.

Did someone say UFIP? Love them. Just bought a 10" Bionic splash recently. Many who use even bionic series pies go for the class splashes, but I certainly like my bionic splash. Just bought a second hand 21" bionic heavy ride. The bell on the rides are just sweet. Some, like the bionic, have unlathed bells, which make them look almost like they have cracks in pictures. It's actually drip from the rotocasting pour.

Historically, UFIP was a union of several cymbal makers, who used the rotocasting method to make cymbals by contract for other brands. The brand may have had some say in the alloy in terms or production costs, but they were all generally b20. Now UFIP is the corporate brand, making cymbals only under their own specs. Very nice stuff. I saw jamie Gale, the distributor for the U.S. and Canada, put a 20" Class Brilliant medium ride up against a Zildjian A Custom medium Ride and the clarity of the UFIP was astounding and made the A Custom sound quite primitive. No lie.

As you're looking for UFIP cymbals, just beware of a line called Primo. They are not, I repeat, they are not made by UFIP at all. They may carry the UFIP ink stamp but they are Chinese knock-offs and sound as such. Don't go buying one of these, sound unheard, and then bag on UFIP sounding trashy. You've been warned.

Thank for the info and the warning. I ended up passing on the UFIP hats I was looking at due to the fact that I came up on some vintage Zildjian A hats for dirt cheap, but good to know that there are some UFIP lovers out there. As I mentioned in one of the earliest posts of this thread, I have an Italian-made 14" Alejian crash and it sounds fantastic...just have had no experience with UFIP yet. One day I might, though...