Bosphorus Cymbals

Bosphorus is a cymbal manufacturer based in İstanbul, Turkey and Kennesaw, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta in the United States. The foundry is located near the Bosphorus Strait, from which the company draws its name. It is owned by three master cymbalsmiths, Ibrahim Yakici, Hasan Seker, and Hasan Ozdemir. They originally worked at the Istanbul Cymbals factory until the company split in the 1990s. There they were trained by Mehmet Tamdeger, who worked at the K Zildjian Cymbal Company in the 1950s and Agop Tomurcuk who was foreman of the K Zildjian factory in Istanbul until its closure in 1978.

The U.S. operation is owned by a trio of drummers, including Jeff Hamilton, Michael Vosbein, and Bill Norman, with Vosbein serving as President.

Unlike most modern cymbal manufacturers, Bosphorus continues to produce its cymbals using centuries old traditions. It is a labor intensive process involving casting, shaping, hammering and lathing each cymbal completely by hand. This process is said to render different tonal characteristics than machine made cymbals, producing a vowel-like stick articulation with dark and complex overtones.

Current products

The Bosphorus Web site lists the following cymbal series:

Turk Series

The unlathed Turk Series is dark, dry, and earthy, with enhanced stick definition. Available in Thin weight.

Traditional Series

Fully lathed, the Traditional Series is very complex due to the varying thickness from bell to edge. They have a clean ping and a...
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