Istanbul 20" sterling crash ride

lefty2

lefty2

Platinum Member
Recently I've been listening to crash rides online and settled on a Paiste Giant beat 22 but another one I debated about was the 20 inch sterling. I went back and forth between the two, I had enough $$$ saved for it but I just couldn't see spending $550. It's a beautiful pie though, maybe in the future I'll get one . Right now I'm enjoying the Paiste, I've used it on two gigs and think it's pretty sweet.
 
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I think the Sterling crash ride went through a redesign a couple years ago. All the ones I tried for a while were too bright and brash for my taste, but the ones I’ve tried more recently have been sweeter and smoother. Could be just coincidental maybe, but Agop does do major redesigns all the time. Worth taking into consideration when you’re shopping.
 
bongoman said:
I think the Sterling crash ride went through a redesign a couple years ago. All the ones I tried for a while were too bright and brash for my taste, but the ones I’ve tried more recently have been sweeter and smoother. Could be just coincidental maybe, but Agop does do major redesigns all the time. Worth taking into consideration when you’re shopping.
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Brash is exactly what I did not want because I'm using ahead drumsticks that are pretty darn bright on the rides. The Paiste is sounding really good with any stick that I've tried
 
I had both Sterling cymbals, bought when they were launched. I was disappointed because Sterling is an interesting drummer with some unique sound ideas, but the cymbals I bought I would describe as bland. They sounded almost exactly like 1960's A Zildjians. Very nice sounding, but I couldn't justify the large investment when you could find something similar in a cheap, used Zildjian.
I endorse Agop and I absolutely love most of their other cymbals (Traditional, Om, Mantra etc).
 
@Chris Whitten I appreciate this response and I think it goes deep into individuality and how we all hear cymbals differently. I had a 20" Sterling ride that I loved, but sold due to financial needs at the time. The reason I loved it was due to it's similarity to my dad's 60's A's. I think it is pretty amazing that the same cymbal would bland to one set of ears and beautiful to another. Probably the reason finding the "right" cymbal is such an arduous and long process.

As an aside, I also really enjoyed your ride cymbal video. Had a "Let me roll it" vibe, which may or may not have been intended :) Cheers!
 
I agree, as an A soundalike it was an excellent cymbal. My point was that quite excellent 60's and 70's A's can be had for less than half the money, albeit you probably have to hunt them out - which is tiresome.
 
Chris Whitten said:
I agree, as an A soundalike it was an excellent cymbal. My point was that quite excellent 60's and 70's A's can be had for less than half the money, albeit you probably have to hunt them out - which is tiresome.
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Bongoman indicated those cymbals have gone through some redesign. Do current sterlings still sound like older A cymbals to you? I sure like the sterling in the video and I don't like a lot A s it seems Zildjian sounds are very inconsistent.
 
Agop is *more* inconsistent, which is a natural result of hand crafting. The idea I meant to convey with the comment about a possible redesign was that you should listen to the specific physical cymbal you’re going to buy, instead of relying on a demo of a different unit in that model.
 
I borrowed a lot of Traditional crashes from the distributor and they weren't that different from each other.
The sound of the Sterling cymbals is uncomplex, nothing that screamed hand made to my ears.
They may have gone through a reboot. Mine were from the first day of release.
Look they are very, very good sounding crash rides, to me they were just a bit vanilla - compared to the normal Istanbul Agop and compared to the kind of videos Sterling puts on Youtube and Instagram.
 
Chris Whitten said:
I borrowed a lot of Traditional crashes from the distributor and they weren't that different from each other.
The sound of the Sterling cymbals is uncomplex, nothing that screamed hand made to my ears.
They may have gone through a reboot. Mine were from the first day of release.
Look they are very, very good sounding crash rides, to me they were just a bit vanilla - compared to the normal Istanbul Agop and compared to the kind of videos Sterling puts on Youtube and Instagram.
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See, I think I must like vanilla LOL Also I don't do Jazz and it seems like most of the Istanbul cymbals that I hear are what Jazz players would use.
 
Chris Whitten said:
I had both Sterling cymbals, bought when they were launched. I was disappointed because Sterling is an interesting drummer with some unique sound ideas, but the cymbals I bought I would describe as bland. They sounded almost exactly like 1960's A Zildjians. Very nice sounding, but I couldn't justify the large investment when you could find something similar in a cheap, used Zildjian.
I endorse Agop and I absolutely love most of their other cymbals (Traditional, Om, Mantra etc).
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I've been looking at the Mantra 22" ride and the Sterling 22" crash ride. I really like crashing on my ride but also need and want good stick definition. Which one would you suggest? Thanks.
 
I posted an answer somewhere else.....?
Anyway, the Mantra has great stick definition, the Sterling crashes. Neither cymbal does both IME.
 
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