Another Istanbul (from sam ash?!, used!)

[KCMcC]

So I go to the store to buy a practice pad and some sticks, and while goofing off in the cymbal room I see an Istanbul 22" Ride (Agop Signature series it looks like) with no price tag on it. I immediately start looking around the floor and there it is:
$185
I bought it, it's got a beautiful, somewhat trashy and incredibly unique sound. Almost sounds as if it has rivets in it. Will make a perfect second ride for the few of our quieter tunes that fit, and may be what it takes to get the Guitar players to ease up on the volume a little - it's a sound worth hearing, even they might notice!

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9092/istanbulagop010resizekl9.jpg

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/605/istanbulagop001kb8.jpg

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/471/istanbulagop004ia7.jpg

[KCMcC]

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/9179/istanbulagop013balancednq0.jpg

http://img481.imageshack.us/img481/9733/istanbulagop017balancedek1.jpg

[max77]

What a beauty. (In every sense of the world I'm sure)

[maddrummr]

Wow that thing looks NICE. My local sam ash carrys nothing of Istanbul or Bosphorus and I have heard such nice things about them. I wish I could try some out somwhere.

[KCMcC]

This Sam Ash doesn't usually carry anything like that either. Somebody must have traded it in on something, and based on the fact that Sam Ash was selling it for $185.00 whoever got rid of it probably got LESS than that in trade value (I'd guess $150 or less)

Only in this town . . .

(nothing against punk in and of itself mind you, but

[Drummer Karl]

Maaaan, that is beautiful!!!
I´ve also got an Agop just two days ago (a Mel Lewis 21" Ride with 2 rivets).

The thing I noticed was that the Mel Lewis has a very low and flat profile...and a flat bell. From what I can see has your Agop the same flat profile and bell. Is that right?
Is that...well yeah, the typical "style" of them??

Karl

[KCMcC]

Saw and heard your Mel Lewis, a beautiful cymbal, and the reason why this thread was titled "Another . . ."
The Bell is very low, barely any thicker than the bow, and looks to be only slightly less hammered. The Bell has a sound between what you would expect from a bell on a "normal" cymbal and the bow of a jazz oriented cymbal, it would still stand out as a dryer, brighter and louder accent from THIS cymbal, but would not really sound like a bell if you played a bell pattern on it.

This was an impulse purchase, but one I am very happy about (now I'm gonna have to sell some of the old stuff that I have been hemming and hawing on - the 22" AAX metal ride that I haven't played in years, one of my extra snares that I never use, and probably the little Catalina Club set). Now I just have to figure out where to put it on my kit! It may take the place of my 14" K Custom Dark Crash, or it may be an add on above and slightly behind center of my floor tom (I've got the extra stand, and will definitely have both set up at practice but for gigging I may have to make a tough decision).

[Snowdogyyz]

Wow that thing looks NICE. My local sam ash carrys nothing of Istanbul or Bosphorus and I have heard such nice things about them. I wish I could try some out somwhere.

It's hard to find places that carry them, but you can hear soundfiles of them online. It's not QUITE the same, but they are pretty darn close. Try:

www.thecymbalshop.com and www.cymbalsonly.com


Both have AGOPS and soundfiles. Both have excellent service. The cymbal shop has the largest inventory of AGOPS in the US. Give em a try!

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Yep, definitely a keeper.

[Drummer Karl]

Yep, definitely a keeper.

and I definitly agree!! =)

haha, sometimes I bash myself for spending extra money for a name...if you know what I mean. ;-)

Hey bro, such a good choice...hope you have fun with it!

Karl

[Mr. Pasquini]

My drum teacher just bought a 24" one of these. has a really unique crash sound. The bell sounds like junk, but it has a really nice dark sound. It doesn't cut at all...

[KCMcC]

Here she is in action, my band playing Chuck Berry's slow Blues "Wee Wee Hours"
Click here to watch Wee-Wee-Hours (http://media.putfile.com/Wee-Wee-Hours)
structure is (Agop led sections in Bold)
intro (The new baby Agop from about 0-19 sec)
2 verses (14" HH hats)
1 chorus guitar Solo (I think this was the 20"K Cust. Med)
1 more verse
2 chorus guitar Solo (I believe the Agop played on the first chorus from about 4:09, and then I switched to the K for some more pinginess as we built up)

[KCMcC]

And after digging through the recording of practice I found a little clip of it mostly by itself, while I was diddling around as one of the guitarists was trying to fix some pedal.

Click here to hear 22", 2108g Agop Sig (http://media.putfile.com/22Agop2108)

I was surprised listening to the practice just how much I used it. Even in some of the louder funk-rock things, it held it's own as an alternate voice behind the guitar solos.
I found a truly unique and beautiful piece of bronze there!