Well my 14" 5 Star Super Zyn's arrived today, and I have to say I really dig the sound of them! Up until recently I hadn't heard of them, but I will be now keeping a close eye out for them around the place. I don't have a lot at all in the way of vintage cymbals so I will gradually work on that part of the collection.

The hallmark of a rotocast cymbal is an underlying pinwheel-pattern "watermark" in the cymbal metal, most prevalent a few inches around the cup area, where the metal was poured into the centrifugal mold. Having only seen one and not owning any :( , I have nothing to examine to determine if they were rotocast blanks. My guess is that if the Brits enslaved captured Italians, then my paisanos would be reluctant to sell them cymbal blanks.

Actually, the way it worked is that the Italians were more than overjoyed to surrender to the Brits. There was the celebrated case of an entire Italian battalion surrending to one Brit in a Jeep en masse, in north Africa(a mali estremi,estremi rimedi). They weren't exactly eager volunteers afterall and spending a few years in an allied prison (some came to Canadian prison camps and grew vegetables---boo hoo, life was so hard!), was a far better fate than starving or being slaughtered in some north African desert. Italians aren't stupid after all, heck ,they invented rotocasting.----anyway to move on; that's exactly what I thought. I've got a fair # of Zanchis and Ufips and some others, definitely of Italian origin (not Toscos---apparently Toscos were never rotocast) and they all have that pinwheel pattern. I do get drumaholics point about the nicks and pits in the supers and 5 stars but I have a pair of Ufip hats that I can verify to a mfg. year of 1965 or 66(I bought them in 66) and they are both heavy with that arced pattern on them ; one has lots of litttle pits on one side and the other is clean. On the side of the English cymbals, I have some with pits in the surface and some that are perfectly clean but they all except for one 20" ride have that pinwheel pattern ---and---they nest perfectly with many of the Italian cymbals, as though they came out of the same mold ???? compelling . perhaps the early super zyns were rolled and eventually they went with rotocast blanks , as they became available. il mondo e bello perche e vario .

it is always very good to hear of someone who embraces one of the other very fine vintage cymbals ,other than the two Z's. cymbals are like wine----take the label or the stamp away; a blind tasting or a blind listening and the perceiver is left to their own devises to discover creatively,without the power of a cult directing them. i am curious as to the weights of yours and do they show the pinwheel pattern from the centre out?

Calfskin, you are right. Things are all up to the individual and what their "tastes" are. The weight of the hats are 830gm each. I couldn't find the pin-wheel, unless I've missed it. Ill have another look. I'm hoping to find some more older cymbals that take my fancy in my travels. We'll see how I go! Here's a little pic of the hats.

on some of my cast Zyns they are very precisely lathed and most of the patterns from the casting have been trimmed off but if you look closely and in the right light you can still see them. the Italian cymbals seem to show the pattern more. glad you like your cymbals, I know I would too.