My father purchased these cymbals back in 1973. They're stamped Dixon Dyna Star. One of them is an 18" crash/ride the other is 20' ride.
Does anyone on the forum know the history of these cymbals?
Where did they come from?
Are they still made under another name?
Inquiring minds want to know
they are made by Paiste. Dynastar was a Paiste brand . Some of them are very poor but yours look similar in the hammer patterns and polish to some older ones that I have ,that I consider to be o.k.----not great but o.k. They were using some kind of a nickel silver that was whiter than most and has a higher timbre. it made pretty good cymbals for practice and effects. I've played a lot of cymbals that just make me cringe, so I can't even goof around with them without putting my spine out. these at least are pleasant to play. Dixon doesn't have a reputation in N.A. for very high quality stuff but in Europe they seem to have had a more extensive product line and have some regard. I don't think the've ever made anything----were/are just jobbers.
It's probable that a number of manufacturers produced the "Dixon Dyna Stars".
I've seen a few that were definitely made by UFIP in Italy.
Wow, I should have checked back a lot sooner than TWO YEARS LATER!!!!
Still, much thanks calfskin. You are the only person in nearly 40 years to even guess at the origin of this cymbal. You are correct that they (I have an 18" and a 20" ride) both have a nickel-silvery finish. You're dead on that they sound just OK, but that was fine when they were my first "real" cymbals. I put the rivets in the 20" myself sometime during the nineties and turned it into a decent jazz cymbal.
The mystery is possibly solvedParty
your father's Dixons were 100% made in Italy by UFIP.
There were two unrelated uses of the name Dynastar for cymbals that I am aware of.
In the early 1960s the US distributor (this is prior to Ludwig dist. Paiste) of Paiste Formula 602s (Bonne Music Center aka Halifax Dist. Co. of Syracuse, NY) used the name Dynastar Formula 602s by Paiste for the cymbals and got a special metal stamp like Arbiter did for 602s sold at Drum City in London.
In the early to mid 1970s UFIP made the DynaStar Dixon and DynaStar Superior for WERCO - a Chicago area musical instruments maker and distributor.
I attached a photo of a different Dixon that partially shows the "Italy" engraving on the cymbal underneath the name.
