Mehteran – low cost quality handmade Turkish cymbals.

Nowadays, it's hard to find cymbals that are handmade in Turkey and come at prices which are reminiscent of better times. We all love the sound and feel of handmade Turkish cymbals, but when we look at the price of just one such cymbal these days, we get a little goosebumps. We all know that for a decent set (hi hat, ride, 16" and 18" crash) of such cymbals it's easy to spend 1500 eur...but, without going further with the introduction, here in Glazbena kutija, we came across a young company called Mehteran, which sheds new light on the cymbal offering.

Mehteran was founded by a man named Adem Diril. During a period of 15 years, Adem worked as a smith in the Turkish part of the Meinl company. In 2021, he decided to create his own brand MEHTERAN CYMBALS. The main goal was to produce 100% handmade cymbals and use only B-20 alloy. Today, Mehteran produces over 20 series of cymbals that are available worldwide and most importantly, they are high quality cymbals like some Turkish handmade versions of popular brands, but they cost significantly less.

Of course, due to my experience working in the Turkish part of the Meinl company, a lot of things were "borrowed" from that very company. So there are many series that are similar to some of the Byzance models (dry, extra dry, dual, sand, etc.)..., but it is important to mention that the cymbals are quite far pricewise, but still very close (or completely there) in terms of construction, quality, sound and appearance. Which ultimately means that someone with a more modest budget can get a high-quality cymbal or set of cymbals. Some series of the mentioned two companies are almost identical, in every aspect except the price, which made us especially happy.

Of course, we also mentioned the variety of series, which gives the individual an even more opportunities to choose wide sound palette. From brilliant, traditional finish, to dual variants, dry, extra dry, option of trash crashes, up to some special series with specific designs like Zebra and Oscar series. Of course, considering the series and the sound that adorns it as well as the finish, there are also different options for manual hammering, which, apart from the visual aspect, contributes the most to the sound and character of the cymbal. We discovered this gem from Turkey quite early in the company's existence hoping that in this hectic times where prices are running wild, we will be able to offer high quality handmade Turkish cymbals, but at prices that will put a smile on your face...after the arrival of the first shipment, we saw and tried these cymbals, and we realized that we succeeded in our intentions!