The Istanbul Agop Lenny White is a collaboration with the renowned drummer. Infused with a hint of restrained funk and a focus on bringing rock back to jazz, these cymbals offer a distinct and unconventional sound specific to White's style.
Lenny White Epoch Ride
- The ride is influenced by the one gifted to Wallace Roney by the renowned Tony Williams, and played by Lenny during his time with Wallace.
- Featuring an unique and alluring shape, it offers a deep and earthy sound, with a touch of trashiness that can vary depending on the playing location.
- It has varying tones, with a dark sound near the bell and a brighter sound on the shoulder. The hooked edge creates a mysterious, thin and oriental tone.
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Reviews
"'Buttery' is the word that come to mind when playing the Lenny White ride. Its unusual shape with the dinky bell lends it a unique sound. Overall it's deep and fairly trashy but, depending on where you play it, you can get some quite distinct tones: near the bell it's dark while on the shoulder it's actually brighter, and beyond the hooked edge it's mysteriously oriental and thinner. You can rarely find a ride with such distinctive tonal regions. Maybe this is a shape that should be investigated more often... The undersized bell is tangy and, unlike standard ride bells, which feel separate, this one blends seamlessly into the body of the cymbal. It seems to emerge as a sharp bite on top of a deep spread with hissy sustain. The clear stick sound is almost metallic, which is quite surprising given the overall dark shroud of the cymbal. If you shoulder it the crash is pretty close to a China - brutish and trashy - and you can build up a great wobble. Rather too dark for the average rock and pop gig, it's a cymbal jazzers will love. It has power, suiting more muscular jazz-fusion drummers - in the Tony and Lenny mold." - Geoff Nicholls
"I first played the Epoch with a stick in the 7A-8A range. Then I asked a student to play it with a 5B. The 5B proved to be the preferred stick for this cymbal. This bigger stick brings out a cleaner ping with more dark Tony-like undertones. When I interrupted a rapid jazz ride pattern with push crashes -coming down on the flat of the cymbal with the stick almost parallel- the cymbal erupted quickly with shot, dark, gutfural rasps that didn't clutter the ride pattern with unnecessary splash. This was a crowning characteristic of the original Nefertiti. For my final test, I envisioned the classic Tony/Miles record Live At The Plugged Nickel and rode a galloping 8th-note figure followed by five consecutive shanks: "Caw, Caw, Caw, Caw, Cawl' This experiment proved that Lenny White's patience had
paid off. A good portion of Tony Williams' sound lives on in this cymbal. Crashing the Epoch doesn't give you a typical fast whoosh, nor does the bell scream out, "Let's mambo!" But if Tony's tip- and-shank Tone is in your blood, you'll appreciate the extra weight, the many sweet spots, and the stability of this ride (it won't wobble off the stand). Lenny told me that of the initial batch of twenty-five cymbals, he rejected only two. That says that the manufacturing is consistent. I grew to really like this cymbal, so I thought about shelling out some cash to keep it. That wouldn't be possible, I was told. "This particular test model was none other than Lenny's LA ride," to be kept safe at the Istanbul Agop California outlet." - T. Bruce Wittet
"A large number of frequencies that literally jump out at you is striking. This cymbal has nothing to do with a linear sound, which doesn't have to be a disadvantage. The booming low-frequency basic sound, which is dirty but at the same time not harsh with rich harmonic overtones, is also very unique. Hitting the bell is difficult and the sound is very bright, as expected. But it is very nice that you can play assertive accents with the stick shoulder - the prerequisite is, of course, that you have hit the bell correctly. This ride is not suitable as a crash, but it captivates with a lot of depth, which predestines it for the warm and multidimensional era of jazz or blues music." - Udo Masshoff
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Warranty
Istanbul Agop has ONE year warranty against manufacturing flaws, starting from date of the purchase.
We ship in-stock orders within the same or next business day.
