I`ll take my snips and make it a top HH. I will admit, when it comes to top HH, thin to win.

I like it but that’s for old school

Just a quick update. I've now got a 22" Hollow Block (aka Large Stamp Type 1) in my possession which has a 5.5" bell. It is ride weight (2838g) and not a crash or crash ride. So the 5.5" bell die does go back to around 1955. Using a contour gauge to supplement just looking at the bells, I've compared that 5.5" bell to the one on my 1960s 18" Crash (1240g). The two bell dies are similar in diameter and height, but different in shape. The version on my 50s 22" ride has steeper sides. The version on my 60s crash has more gently sloping sides.

But note that both dies might have been in use in the mid 1950s. Here are two different shapes on cymbals with hollow block stamps (attached). And here is the bell on my 60s crash.

[img]http://black.net.nz/avedis/images/18-60s.jpg[/img]

Unless I have bells to measure with my contour gauge it is hard to be sure what visual effects have been imposed by the camera angle and lens focal length. I haven't written up the differences properly yet due to other work I've got on restructuring my A Zildjian tracking data which includes much more detail on bells, models, model ink, and related topics. Today I'm on record 2,284 of 2,835. This involves rechecking all the records by examining the associated images and links (where they still work) and generally tidying up lots of things. Which is why I happened upon this thread...

My current thinking is that the use of the special cup (5.5") which Bob Zildjian was talking about as 1960s is specific to 18" to 20" cymbals. The special cup was previously in use for some 22" ride cymbals but in that case it doesn't denote a crash or crash ride. I'm still working through all the evidence I've got for the changeover period from late 1950s to mid 1960s, but I'm doing it with better trained eyes for bell size and shape. Eye Ball

When I was in college, the music department had a storeroom full of old stuff that no one used. There was an old K and an old A. The old K was kinda thick and sounded clangy and I didn't like it. But the old A sounded great. I asked the head of the department if I could replace that cymbal with a brand new cymbal that I had that I didn't like as much. He was agreeable and I traded. It was only after I tried to put the cymbals onto a stand that I realized the hole was too small. So...I widened it to the same diameter as my other cymbals. I guess the cymbal was half of a pair of orchestral crash cymbals (hand held)...the other cymbal in the pair was long gone. It works really great for a crash ride. The edges are extremely thin and I had to file a crack out of one section -a long time ago...funky as heck and probably my favorite low volume gig cymbal that I own. I'll try to get a photo of it...