Roberto Spizzichino
don Roberto
I met Roberto about 25 years ago . I'd just received my first lot of old K cymbals from a friend in Istanbul . I showed these cymbals to a pro drummer who lived in my home town , and together we drove to show the old Ks to Roberto . At the time he was working with “Bespeco”and in his free time was hammering cymbals . He had started experimenting some years before when he was cooperating with UFIP Cymbal Factory .He was alrea dy producing very thin cymbals trying to make them sound like the old K Zildjians , and I remember that his work was at the time rather interesting . After our first meeting , we would meet sometimes and I'd always bring him some Istanbul Ks for him to check out , as he didn't have any of his own . Not long after he quit the UFIP job and moved away . We lost contact for few years , but fortunately a friend of mine informed me that he was now based in Tuscany , so I went to see him . I discovered that he was starting to make new cymbals using the Chinese bronze B20. His first cymbals were very encouraging . The sound was nice, dark and trashy . He said he that he was now on the right road to making an excellent jazz cymbal line .He asked if I was interested in helping him sell this new production , and of course I was . My first customer was Lee Ruff . Lee and I were good friends , and I knew he was a cymbal expert . I asked him if he was interested in hearing a new line of jazz cymbals and he said , “ Yes ! Send a couple to my address . ”About 10 days later I called him to ask what he thought about the cymbals . He told me that they were “excellent sounding ...great work..” We soon began selling these cymbals to jazz players and it turned out to be a great success.
Roberto was a pro jazz drummer in the past , so he knows what a cymbal should sound like , and that each piece must be tested and worked until the best sound comes out . He’s always trying new experiments and new processes that are addressed to improve the sound qualities of his products. A couple of years after he began making cymbals , Roberto found another source of material . He met a Turkish producer of B20 , and preferred that material to what he had been using as it p roduced better results and it was easier to get supplies . Roberto is a one man factory, and all the cymbals that are produced are made by him personally . For that reason a limited number of cymbals are manufactured . He obviously cannot supply music stores , so the only way to get one of his cymbals is through myself, Lee Ruff , or to go to Tuscany personally .Roberto Spizzichino has made a price list of his products and wants every each customer to pay the same price no matter where they buy one of his cymbals . Another line of cymbals he makes are the “piatti” , which are used in Symphonic or Philarmonic Orchestras. MAIN SIZES of cymbals produced are : 18”,19”, 20”, 21”, 22”, 24” ( ride , crash and 14” hi-hats on request ) . He also supplies “ unlathed ride Turk”.