Hi,

I interviewed Bill or Andy Zildjian (cannot remember which, though I do recall the inimitable Nort Hargrove vividly) in the early days of Sabian for a mag called Canadian Music Trade.

This would be Spring 1983:

He said that in the past they never knew exactly what was in the metal they purchased and there were lots of impurities and that they had much better control now (1983) than in the past.

He never commented on metal fatigue vis a vis impurities, just sound and quality control in general.

The difference in the manufacturing is that you are making cymbals, not airplane parts. If you were to duplicate the QC and reject rates for airplane parts, a splash would probably cost $500.

Or maybe $1000 if it were part of a Defence Department procurement contract.

After reading what various cymbalsmiths think makes a sonic difference after much experimentation, it seems that production methods makes a bigger contribution to sound than changes in materials (impurities) or ageing (metal fatigue). But to control for ageing, does anybody here remember hearing (or better playing) some of these old cymbals when they were shiny new? Alas, recordings don't really count here because they introduce a host of additional factors to the mix.

I have 2 cymbals that I bought new in the 60's. one is a 10" Paiste Ludwig splash and the other is a 14" (actually 150mm) UFIP. I did not play the Paiste for years and years and the UFIP only rarely because I didn't have what I thought was a mate for it.

Recently I have played them more, partially due to my increasing interest in cymbal variables.

They both sound softer and more silky than I remember but I bought them a long time ago and I suspect my ears have changed more than the cymbals.