TK-421
Senior Member
I stopped by my local Sam Ash last weekend, and as usual, I grabbed a stick and starting banging out ride patterns on cymbals that caught my eye. I've been looking for a good deal on a left-side ride for my occasional jazz gigs, and in the used cymbals section, I found a raw/unlathed, seemingly hand-hammered 20" Soultone Inferno ride for $100. And lo and behold, it actually sounded pretty decent. Not ideal, but for the price, it'd do—especially since I only play a few jazz gigs per year. And while I'm not all that familiar with Soultone, it's at least a "known" brand, so I could always sell it if need be.
So I bought it.
Then I got home and looked up the Soultone website to see what I could learn about my new-to-me Inferno ride. Nothing there, no mention of Inferno. Well, maybe it's an old, discontinued line, so I Googled "Soultone Inferno"—and still couldn't find anything. Hmmm.
I then noticed something peculiar. The Soultone logos, both on top and on the bottom, weren't silkscreened on, but were actually stickers (however the "Inferno" name was silkscreened, indicating that these were applied at different times). I also noticed some sort of faded red markings underneath the logo stickers. Could this be a fake Soultone?
When I searched Google Videos for Soultone Inferno, I came across a video labeled "RARE Buzin Inferno 12" Hi Hat Cymbals FOR SALE". BUZIN???? What the hell are Buzin cymbals? So I googled "Buzin Inferno" and found my answer. As you can see, my "Soultone" ride is clearly a Buzin Inferno.
So now I have a dilemma. Do I keep the ride, which I kinda like (but I'd likely be stuck with since I imagine it'd be hard to sell an unknown Buzin ride), or use Sam Ash's 30-day return policy to get out of it? To complicate matters slightly, before I discovered it's true origin, I decided that I'd like to have it lathed to reduce the weight, in hopes of opening up the sound a bit. I found a local cymbalsmith who'd do it for $80, but now that I know it's a no-name cymbal, do I really want to pour another $80 into it?
What would you do?
By the way, the first pic is of a Buzin Inferno ride I found online, the rest are of my new ride. You can see the reflections off the Soultone sticker in pic #3 (a silkscreened logo wouldn't do that), plus you can just make out a faded red "BU" in pic #4, and an "N" in pic #5. You can sort of see the full "Buzin" logo in the last pic.
More pics of an actual Buzin Inferno ride can be found here:
https://reverb.com/item/7187637-dark-hand-hammered-masterwork-buzin-20-inferno-ride-great-cd-2372-gs
So I bought it.
Then I got home and looked up the Soultone website to see what I could learn about my new-to-me Inferno ride. Nothing there, no mention of Inferno. Well, maybe it's an old, discontinued line, so I Googled "Soultone Inferno"—and still couldn't find anything. Hmmm.
I then noticed something peculiar. The Soultone logos, both on top and on the bottom, weren't silkscreened on, but were actually stickers (however the "Inferno" name was silkscreened, indicating that these were applied at different times). I also noticed some sort of faded red markings underneath the logo stickers. Could this be a fake Soultone?
When I searched Google Videos for Soultone Inferno, I came across a video labeled "RARE Buzin Inferno 12" Hi Hat Cymbals FOR SALE". BUZIN???? What the hell are Buzin cymbals? So I googled "Buzin Inferno" and found my answer. As you can see, my "Soultone" ride is clearly a Buzin Inferno.
So now I have a dilemma. Do I keep the ride, which I kinda like (but I'd likely be stuck with since I imagine it'd be hard to sell an unknown Buzin ride), or use Sam Ash's 30-day return policy to get out of it? To complicate matters slightly, before I discovered it's true origin, I decided that I'd like to have it lathed to reduce the weight, in hopes of opening up the sound a bit. I found a local cymbalsmith who'd do it for $80, but now that I know it's a no-name cymbal, do I really want to pour another $80 into it?
What would you do?
By the way, the first pic is of a Buzin Inferno ride I found online, the rest are of my new ride. You can see the reflections off the Soultone sticker in pic #3 (a silkscreened logo wouldn't do that), plus you can just make out a faded red "BU" in pic #4, and an "N" in pic #5. You can sort of see the full "Buzin" logo in the last pic.
More pics of an actual Buzin Inferno ride can be found here:
https://reverb.com/item/7187637-dark-hand-hammered-masterwork-buzin-20-inferno-ride-great-cd-2372-gs
Attachments
-
207.8 KB Views: 611
-
214.3 KB Views: 610
-
176.6 KB Views: 578
-
190.4 KB Views: 576
-
212.8 KB Views: 584
-
247.5 KB Views: 612
Last edited: