I ran across this in an article several years ago:...e-mailed Zildjian asking them about the New Beats. This is their reply:"The "New Beat" concept actually started with the suggestion from the great drumming artist and Zildjian endorser, Louie Bellson in 1965. He recommended the use of a heavier bottom cymbal than what was commonly used up to that point in time. It was actually the bottom cymbal that was referred to as a "New Beat" (Mr. Bellson actually coined the term) that could be applied to any weight top cymbal (medium to thin weights). This went on for a couple of years until a dedicated New Beat Hihat pairing was established in 1967-68 using a medium weighted top cymbal to go against the "New Beat" bottom. It was then that the classic New Beat Hihats were born. Since then, they have remained our most popular hihat creations."...

Hi there,That article was a thread over at Cymbalholic.com. The person who e-mailed Zildjian about the New Beats was me. I actually posted this exact information here at Vintagedrumforum not long ago, see http://www.vintagedrumforum.com/showthread.php?t=28265&highlight=bellson/Magnus

nice! I'm guessing that my "magic" pair preceded the actual New Beats, because the weights are almost same on top and bottom.