Istanbul Mehmet Tony Williams Ride 22

The most celebrated Ride cymbal in history? Undoubtedly. Long regarded as the epitome of the ideal old Turkish cymbal Ride sound. Used by Tony on all the Quintet recordings up to ‘Sorcerer’, after which it was forced in to retirement due to increasing fragility, this magnificent cymbal now bears the scars of the most intense Ride cymbal playing in history. Drilled out repeatedly in several places over the years, to halt the spread of cracks, with a piece flung off at the edge under his furious assault, Tony, still refused to surrender his prize. Despite and ‘because of’, these historic characteristics, this cymbal retains its utterly remarkable sound and all the characteristics for which it became so famous. Its unique combination of dry, clean stick sound, with complex, dark, orchestral overtones, presented the greatest challenge to the Istanbul Mehmet artisans, and they met it.



Mehmet Tamdeger learned his art from Mikhail Zilcan, the grandson of Kerope Zilcan, after whom the Zilcan K series is named. In the 1950s, he worked in the K. Zilcan factory in Istanbul.  At the age of nine Mehmet Tamdeğer started to work for Mikhail Zilcan, grandson of Kerope Zilcan. Mikhail Zilcan and Kirkor Küçükyan taught him every aspect of this ancient Turkish art, based on a history that stems back to the early 17th century.