hi relayer, this is probly no help at all but thought i'd share anyway. i was looking for some cymbals for my camco kit and came across a zildjian A custom fast crash and fell in love with it. i don't know the proper words to use to explain the sound of this cymbal but i really do like it. just something you could look into.

I'm tuning in to see what some others suggest...

I am intrigued by the old Paiste 2002 series lately... I have a set of 15" Sound Edge hats from the 70s. thinking about getting a couple of crashes to match.

Forum member, Purdie Shuffle, speaks highly of the Instanbul line of cymbals. They are similar to the K Zildjians mostly, but they may offer some brighter sounding cymbals as well.

Thanks very much for replies. I've heard good things about all of those cymbals, particularly the Istanbuls. I listened to a 16" Paiste 602 crash today that I liked the sound of and also a Bosphorus 17" that was very nice. Although I have a modern kit that I play and mostly record with, I only use vintage cymbals on my vintage kits; same with hardware.

Thanks again.

Stephen

16-inchers...

The best crash I have ... and have ever heard ... is a 16" first stamp A. Zildjian at 799g. (Apologies to folks who don't like the "first stamp" designation ... I know you're out there!) Small, so it cuts well enough (through acoustic stuff anyway). But old, so it's rich and creamy and just melts through the mix and makes everyone feel good. Wow, I love that cymbal ... and rarely play w/o it. I have a 16" Johan at 994g that works about the same way. He started with a '60s A and hammered and lathed and sandblasted it into something Bettis-like. Another cymbal w/o a bad tone in it. 16" trans stamps are pretty widely available for <$200 and usually sound very, very good. Same with U.S.-made Zilcos -- the old ones ... even cheaper. Yeah, like others have suggested, how about Istanbul. At least you can listen to sound files here: http://www.cymbalsonly.com/ and buy from someone who *really* knows what he's doing.