I can see why this one would be a bit hard to call, but I once had one like this too. That's a transitional stamp.

It is a bit odd, but the left and right of the Arabic are impressed as one would expect with a transition stamp. I'm a bit troubled by the the fact the Z and Co are not more impressed thn the rest of the name. The lathing on the bottom looks right, but the lathing on the top side seems a bit deeper and more defined compared to the two trans stamps I own, and other photos I've seen. Perhaps thats just a result of the lighting.

Thanks! Is this a different type of transitional stamp, or just a more lightly stamped version of the most common(?) early 50s stamp.

The fact that the Z and Co aren't that deeply impressed could perhaps be because the bottom part of the stamp is very light overall?

Actually under higher magnification, the Z does look to me as if it may be a bit more depressed. But another issue is that Avedis looks too thick and deep compared to my own examples and all the letters in Zildjian look deeper than other examples of trans I've seen.

Sorry to hear that. Maybe some Zoloft would be in order.

Here's another example of a trans stamp showing the same characteristics. And this one is not the same sub-type as yours:

[img]http://photos.imageevent.com/drumaholic/kerope/PICT0109.JPG[/img]

The fact that the stamping on your cymbal looks as it does is just because as sometimes happens, is simply because it just turns out that way for whatever reason, and we really don't know exactly why. But still examples like these are pretty rare to find.

Hey Bill,

Zoloft aside, your example does seem to be a bit more recessed in the Z and Co then that of the original poster's example. The lathing on yours also seems to be a bit finer than on his. I'm not disputing your findings There were a few things I observed that made me think his cymbal might be something else.

Depressed, recessed, ....

Personally I favor impressed myself.

But enough of this idle banter about semantics.

You're right about the lathing, But the 4 different sub-types make for different styles of lathing too. So you really can't assume that the trans stamps as a whole necessarily share the same manufacturing characterstics. They are more distinct than similar.

I meant impressed. I guess I'm not thinking straight as a result of the Zoloft. Falling Do The lathing looked more like something from the '60s to me. Maybe it was just the lighting.