trip to the masterwork factory

[robert-jan]

Hello gang,

I ve just returned from my second trip to Istanbul.
Off course I had to visit my good friends at the Masterwork factory.
it was very nice to see the factory is slowly but surely expending to keep in track with the growing demand for these fine instruments.

The factory can be found on a industrial area,where its getting pretty hot already this time of the year under the turkish sun..
This time when I arrived the crew was on hammering shift..so getting out of the car I was welcomed with the sound of hammering ,hammering and more hammering .. even when they are not finished yet these plates produce an overwhelming sound.

The factory is everything you can expect from a traditional turkish cymbalmaker..
No fancy high tech computer data,or machines that look like they are ready for another 6000 pieces per hour..no a bunch of chairs,hammers and craftsmen who hammer there but of..

I have to say ,at first I was feeling sorry for those poor guys,hammering like madmen,but when I got the change to talk to them a bit ( after they took a shower and dressed up to go for dinner :wink: )it was clear these guys are all about making cymbals.


http://www.rmmpnet.org/members/RJ/DSC00882.JPG

This time I was lucky I guess..
I had the change to discuss my ideas about some ideas I had about a cymbal I was looking for and immediatly they started to work on something.
I was looking for a sort of trash-crash oriental kind of thing.
Behnan Gozmec ( founder and pres) talked some to other cymbalcraftsmen and in no time they were lathing some cymbals to see if they could make me happy..
How cool was that? ha way cool...hee RJ what about this? ..well its ok but is it possible to get a bit more of...before I knew the guys where doing other hocus pocus which resulted in a thin (real thin) 18" custom "crash" that is trashy but bright and with a snif of china..so yeah I was smiling from ear to ear of course..
My own true custom cymbal..
here s pic of the lathening in proces..


http://www.rmmpnet.org/members/RJ/DSC00884.JPG

New are the masterwork darbuka's
excellent drums with some beautifull handpainted finishes..if you are into those these are some to consider!



http://www.rmmpnet.org/members/RJ/DSC00879.JPG

Anyway long story short..
If you have the possibillity ,be sure to check m out.

Behnan,thanks again for the hospitality,the food ,the drinks and the laughs..

and last but not least ...even my girlfriend enjoyed visiting the factoryand seeing the cymbalmaking proces...thats got to say something!;)

[tbone]

Holy sh!t, that's awesome!! What a cool thing to see!!! And the photo opportunities!!!! I've NEVER had a clue how cymbals were made; you're very fortunate to have done that! Next time, TAKE ME 8)

[robert-jan]

There is a promo cd-rom with some video about the process of making these cymbals..I ll see if its possible to get that online...

note to Mic...is that possible?


ow and yes ...photo oppurtunities...




http://www.rmmpnet.org/members/RJ/DSC00877.jpg[/img]

[moosryan]

sweet that would be amazing. can we get an mp3?

[tbone]

There is a promo cd-rom with some video about the process of making these cymbals..I ll see if its possible to get that online...

note to Mic...is that possible?


ow and yes ...photo oppurtunities...

Dag! if only I coulda been there - I'd probably have spent more time shootin than getting the gist of the tour! :? 8)

[rhjanes]

I don't think that is an OSHA approved manufacturing facility....LOL

[rhjanes]

how many can you ship over to ME!!!

[PuFf]

wow, that's really cool. I think Edog and Vaughn have mentioned masterworks cymbals before, but I haven't had the chance to check them out yet.

[Mic]

Sorry, I don't have enough hosting space to upload the big movies from the cd, but if you go to http://www.masterworkcymbals.de - German flag - Über uns - Produktion - klick on the pictures - you can watch short movies about the four main production steps: melting, rolling, hammering, lathing.

[Mic]

Thanks XXL, that you didn't tell me that you fly down to Behnan.
Next time I go by myself too.
:evil: :P

[robert-jan]

what??? I did tell you!...I did I did I did...aaaaaannd you didnt pick up the phone!..

[Doublestepinit]

WoW !!!!!.I have beeen to the website and watched those videos.The fact you had a cymbal made right there on the spot is so cool of those guys.It really shows an interest to please the people using there products.

I have been in love with these cymbals for a while now.After just seeing the videos awhile back, made me really get interested in them.Its like the whole custom thing,but with cymbals.

Awesome Man.!!!!!!!. 8) They would of had to kick me all the way out in the street ,to get me to ever leave,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,please...please...please..I'll work for FREE!!!!,gimme a hammer. :lol:

[Mic]

...please...please...please..I'll work for FREE!!!!,gimme a hammer. :lol:This is not easy I tried it, my hammermarks were not there were they should have been. :lol:

[Doublestepinit]

A picture is worth a thousand words.That brings it into perspective quite a bit.The look on your face says it all. :D
Did they let you keep your cymbal,err...test object.?. :lol:
I bet it takes a whole lot of practice .And no mistakes either.My arm is hurting thinking about it.

Ok,,I'll sweep up the floors,,and keep all the equipment clean.If I could just hang out and watch . :lol:

[RHCPdrum]

So, how do you order, and where can you get a description of the sounds/styles and sizes?

[Mic]

RHCPdrum, I can't see where you are located.

[RHCPdrum]

Madison, Wisconsin :) .

[Mic]

This is the email adresse of the US distributor:
drumconnection@sbcglobal.net

[Danny11]

Last I heard, masterwork turned into a company called ‘buzzin’. Can anyone bring me up to speed on what has happened?

[rhjanes]

I think there are 'issues' with the US and the North American importation/distributor for these. I just bought two off of eBAy and the company selling them is getting out of Masterworks. All he would share was that it was NOT with Masterworks, but with the US distribution. I picked up a nice 18 inch medium crash/ride. The sustain is about twice of my Sabians. While on the phone, I also 'stole' a 10 inch MW splash. Great price.
Ray

[robert-jan]

everything about the issue has been said and deleted on another forum so I wont go into that again..Buzin comes indeed out of the same factory as masterwork and even if some people on ebay tell you differently..Masterwork and Buzin should be available at drumconnection for the US..

[rhjanes]

OK.....guess I totally missed the other forum.....

Is there a web site for drumconnection?

I love the sustain on that 18 inch crash/ride I got! Now....I need about a 14 and 16 inch thin/paper thin crash, and a china and.....money

[Mic]

Ray, if you wipe that ugly B**** logo off, than you have a real Masterwork, look at the trademark stamp. :wink:

http://www.buzinpercussion.com/

[DrBeat1269]

Awesome thread RJ! Can anyone say field trip?

[Big Beni]

Sounds like a fun trip. i wish that i could have come with you but your girl friend would not have liked that. I can just imagen, you and i talking cymbals, drums, and ghostnote the whole time.

Yes, Nice thread!

[smoke_n_drums]

There are Masterwork cymbals @ Donn Bennett's Drum Studios in Seattle. Very nice....a touch on the spendy side...but still very nice.

The closest my collection gets to old world cymbal making is a few Bosphorous rides.

[tryplecrown]

That would be so awesome to visit. Man, and those are some extremely pretty cymbals. I could never afford them... But it seems I saw somewhere on the web where someone took a trip to the Sabian factory in Canada and snapped some pics. Those were very interesting too. It was sort of neat, because the guy said that at the end of the tour they got to pic out one cymbal of their choice from the vault to take home. How cool would that be. I would love to get a chance to see cymbals made in person.

Hmmmmm, mabye we need to get Dave to hit up the guys at Saluda and see of we can get it sometime to watch. :)

[rhjanes]

The MW cymbals were surprisingly inexpensive....I was checking out Bosphorus and Istanbul and they were a lot higher. Course......the NA dealer network was in the process of a melt down and I got about 10 cymbals for about $100 each.....average.....Cheaper than used on the internet....

And, it helps when they sound so fantastic.

[cymbalholic]

Robert-Jan...great photos from the foundry! Looks like they run a tidy spot there!

Mic, back on one of the earlier versions of cymbalholic.com we had some video clips from the Masterworks folks posted there...were those the same clips?

The art of cymbalmaking is amazing....all of the variables, etc. Just the reasons for and the many methods of hammering alone are really something else. It has been interesting to me to observe various cymbalmakers and how their methods of hand-hammering or lathing differ...even if the tools are the same/similar.

What's really interesting is the bundles of cymbal shavings...those golden strands of thin metal that fly off and out into the air when lathing a cymbal...creating a pile of hair-like bronze strands. You can see this stuff in those photos above.