Hey Thanks For The Info !!

Not Bad For A Set Of Free Spare Cymbals !! They Sound Good Enough For Those Smaller Gigs I Get ..

Ringo's ZYN circa 1967

[IMG]http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/Sgtpepper89L/117.jpg17_zpsyn0qsp0p.jpg[/IMG]

There are generally four types of old Zyn type cymbals.

1: Zyn (also stamped standard quality) B10 alloy

2: Super Zyn B20 alloy

3: 5 star Super Zyn B20 alloy 1968 onwards

4: Zyn nickel silver (2 star from 1968)

Generally the nickel silver ones are pretty dreadful and sound trashy but the other three types can be very nice with the Super Zyn being older and more traditional and the 5 stars brighter and more 70's sounding.

The Zyn stamped std quality are the oldest and can be quite roughly made, the Super Zyn are my personal favorites.

I use some of the Zyn nickel silver ones as splash and effects cymbals but the larger ones are horrible and I am amazed to see a pic of Ringo with one.

My current collection includes the following:

Zyn 12 inch Hi Hats nickel silver 400 / 400 g

Zyn 14 inch Hi Hats nickel silver 620 / 620 g

5 star Super Zyn 14 Hi Hats B20 set A 840 / 840 g

5 star Super Zyn 14 Hi Hats B20 set B 820 / 840 g

Super Zyn 15 inch Hi Hats B20 900 / 1030 g

Super Zyn 15 inch crash B20 900 g

Std Quality Zyn 16 inch crash B10 1000 g

2 Star Zyn 16 inch crash nickel silver 930 g

Super Zyn 16 inch crash B20 1100 g

5 star Super Zyn 16 inch crash B20 1220 g

Super Zyn 20 inch crash ride B20 1820 g

5 star Super Zyn 20 inch ride B20 2300 g

As for values I have paid $50-$75 for most of my Super Zyns with a little more for the 5 star ride.

Here is a pic of my current set-up with my Gretsch Catalina:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/_DSC0002_zps02ygeah1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/IMG_5763_zpshbuqnj1m.jpg[/IMG]

standard quality stamped Zyn 16 inch on the left and 15 inch Super Zyn on the right:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/IMG_5759_zpsvjx9bxnj.jpg[/IMG]

Super Zyn 20 inch crash ride, note lathing defines areas which sound different:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/IMG_5674_zpsdbifazcf.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/IMG_5675_zpscczbeagm.jpg[/IMG]

Lathing zones

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v62/GaryNattrass/IMG_5708_zpspvafhttp.jpg[/IMG]

Hi Gary - when you refer to a 16" is it actually 16"? My (only) Super Zyn cymbal is slightly smaller than a 16" but larger than a 15". Can it be that the measurements are slightly different due to the imperial / metric systems? Do you know during which period the normal Super Zyn's (not the 5 stars) were produced? I love the sound of that little crash though! It also makes a damn nice top for a hi hat with a 16" Paiste Twenty bottom ([ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3POsiQJ6xw"]Odd Combo Super Zyn / Paiste Twenty 16"Hi Hats - YouTube[/ame])

Yes some of my 15/16 inch super zyns are all slightly different sizes and I guess this was down to the casting and lathing, the 5 stars are all pretty uniform size and better finished.

As I understand it the zyn stamped standard quality are the ones from the post war prisoners so 1940's onwards, the super zyn's are 50's and 60's till 1968 and the 5 stars from 1968.

The nickel silver zyn's are 60's and the 2 star zyns are nickel silver and from 1968 onwards.

There were some zyn's made in the 80's but I tend not to bother with them.

I have found that using all sorts of different combinations as hi hats can yield quite good results for recording so even a nickel silver top cymbal with a 5 star bottom can be useable. swap them round too and you get different tones!

My fave hihats are the 15 inch super zyns and I understand that is what Ringo used in the early days!

I picked up a 22" ride for next to nothing. It's stamped ZYN and 'Made In England' and from memory it clocks in somewhere around 2100g. Nickel-Silver cymbal, so has those sound bright sound characteristics, really high silvery, shimmery tones on top of some dark, low stuff... almost gongy undertones with a touch of trash. Definitely not something I'd use as a ride but hoping it'll work well as a big, nasty crash on the far right next to my 2500g 60s A. Essentially a big exclamation point for using at the end of some big dumb rock fills. Will see how it goes at rehearsal this Wednesday, I record all of our stuff on a Tascam recorder so should be able to get a reasonable idea of how nasty it is when I listen back! If it's really bad, maybe I'll chuck some rivets in it, hammer some pockets (like those Crash of Doom/Trash hit/Stanton Trash Crash cymbals) and maybe cut some 'o-zone' holes in it to make it an effects cymbal.