I have a set of 1st generation 14" hats as well...I agree, nice sounding hats!!

Cheers

they are diamonds in the rough :)

Agreed!!

Cheers

Here is a 16...

http://www.musicgoround.com/p/690615/used-zildjian-amir-ii-rock-crash-cymbal-16

Thanks for the link! I'm looking for the first gen of the Amir though...they seem to be harder to find unfortunately.

I've heard a few. They were made of B8 rolled sheet bronze I believe. They were an early budget cymbal line which predated the ZBTs. I'm glad you guys are happy with them. Unfortunately, I've never heard a B8 cymbal I've really cared for or wanted to own. Perhaps their best use would be in rock, but I can't see them being used across a number of other genre's. I guess they are fairly rare today and perhaps they have some collectible interest.

Today, of course, budget conscious drummers and students can purchase Chinese cymbals, such as the Dream Bliss, with B20 bronze for around 1/2 the cost of A. Zildjians. While more expensive than current B8 offerings they are worth every penny.

Glad you like them ar!

I don't own any 1st generation Amir's, but they definitley look more B20 than B8. Also, it seems some of the early ones were ink stamped differently. I found at least 3 versions of ink stamps on the first generation models. There's the stamp you have on yours (Photo 1 below), but also the china in Picture 2 appears to have both on top (Stamp 2). A 3rd stamp I found on a Google Image Search (but couldn't save as a jpg) shows just the type (ex. "Crash"), size and "Zildjian" on top of the cymbal (much like an 1980's A), but has the same stamp on the bottom as the china in photo 2 does on top. Interesting to say the least.

I also attached two Amir flyers from VSD. The first (with your ink stamp) is from 1982, although there does not appear to be any model or size designation shown on the cymbals in the flyer. The second flyer is from 1984, which shows the more familiar 2nd generation ink stamp that continued until they were...............discontinued in the early 1990's.

According to the 1982 flyer, the discs were not created at Zildjian, but were worked and made into a cymbal at Zildjian. Also, I like how they were "created and sealed in a dust free environment" at Zildjian's plant. Get that dust off my cymbal LOL! I would never expect dust to be present at a metal foundry or warehouse!

Enjoy!

My understanding is the original ones were much better than the Amir II line, The one pictured by the OP seems to be an earlier version. However, given my druthers I'll take B20 over B8 bronze any day of the week. Just because there were some better sounding ones doesn't mean they're great sounding cymbals on an absolute basis or can compete with the real thing. But as I said earlier, I hope you guys are happy with them. If they do the trick for the OP and others, more power to them. That's the only thing that counts.

Here is the stamp on my hats...The ink logos have worn off unfortunately...

Cheers