Istanbul Agop XRB20 XIST Brilliant Ride 20-inch

General

This XIST Brilliant Ride has a 20-inch diameter and, as the name suggests, a brilliant finish. The cymbal has a predominantly bright sound with good stick definition and dark crash qualities. The medium thickness of the cymbal top means you have a decent volume range at your disposal. The large cup adds to this. If you are looking for a ride cymbal that you can use in just about any style, this is one to seriously consider. For jazz and bebop, this ride might be a bit on the thick side.

Istanbul Agop - XIST

In order to make and sell professional-sounding cymbals at a friendly price, something had to be done about the way cymbals are produced. Using only traditional techniques is too expensive, but using only modern production processes again leaves the sound too much to be desired by discerning ears. That's why at Istanbul Agop they combined both techniques. The cymbals are still shaped the traditional way, but hammering and finishing involve some more modern techniques. The grooves are machine-made, and the hammering is also done by a machine. Traditional cymbals need about 4,500 hammer blows on average before they are finished - thanks to the special machine used in Turkey, this has been reduced to about 1,500 blows. Istanbul Agop uses the familiar B20 alloy for the XIST cymbals.