Istanbul Agop 20” signature ride

[basset52]

I’m in the market for a new ride cymbal. I canvassed here flat rides a while ago, but I’ve moved on from them. I watched Carter McLean play his Istanbul Agops and his 20” Signature IA just sounded delicious ( I know Carter McLean makes everything sound great!) and I’m no Carter McLean by a country Mile!! The local music shop has one and I’m tempted to jump -I know I should here it in person, but unfortunately I won’t be able to drive for a while due to an unfortunate injury I incurred. Furthermore , here in Oz they don’t appear all that much.For those of you that have any experience with this particular cymbal I would appreciate your thoughts. Carters cymbal weighs 1430 grams.

 

[ineedaclutch]

Lots of the various Turkish cymbals of that weight sound amazing in studio or in a very light context, but are completely lost in any situation above acoustic volumes in my experience.

 

[graysonator]

I have a 24. SUPER dark, works great for lighter styles of music.
The 20 is awesome too, they make a unique addition to any setup for sure
But like the above, they do tend to get lost in larger environments

 

[LittleLegs]

I play an Agop Special Jazz 21” and love it BUT I tried a few and they were quite different. Could you ask the shop to send you a sound file? Even if it’s just recorded into a phone you’ll get a decent general impression of pitch. It might just help you buy with confidence. Good luck!

 

[Skrivarna]

I wouldn't recommend buying an Agop Sig without trying it out in person. I love mine, but they are something special and very individual (at least the older ones was).

 

[bongoman]

+1 to try before you buy. Each one sounds a little different, and some of the older Sigs are weird and dissonant. Also +1 to the super light weight being inaudible in a live context. Those paper thins sound cool at home and under a mic, but no projection at a venue.

 

[graysonator]

I play an Agop Special Jazz 21” and love it BUT I tried a few and they were quite different. Could you ask the shop to send you a sound file? Even if it’s just recorded into a phone you’ll get a decent general impression of pitch. It might just help you buy with confidence. Good luck!

My 22” SE is probably one of my favorite cymbals ever, such a great one

 

[Tamboreter]

I agree with other posters regarding trying it out or listening to sound files before you buy. For years, I played an IA 20" Turk ride and then switched to an IA 20" Sultan jazz ride -my crashes, hats and splash are all Sultans. I purchased both of my rides from Memphis Drum Shop; listened to the videos of that exact cymbal and was not disappointed.

Tony at Cymbalsonly.com is also very knowledgeable regarding Istanbul Agops. I've bought a few from him too and he's always been extremely helpful.

 

[dwsabianguy]

I'd call the shop and ask for a quick phone video. Ask for a couple specific sounds; tip on the bow in various places around the cymbal, crash, bell, etc. Agop Signatures can be very different depending on when it was made and how much it's been played, so it might be weirder than hell if it's an old one.

I've got a 22 that's probably ten years old now (I got it used about six years ago), which has a full ring of cluster hammering that I haven't seen on all of them. Super trashy, super dark, semi dry, totally gets lost in anything but singer songwriter situations, but still one of the funkiest and coolest cymbals I've ever played.