Da mich diese Frage nach der Geschichte der beiden sowie die Frage nach den Unterschieden schon länger beschäftigt, habe ich heute bei cymbalholic.com etwas gefunden, was ich auch euch nicht vorenthalten möchte.
Zitat: "Well, it's kind of tricky...From the information I have, even when they split, at first they still shared the same factory...I believe Mehmet has the factory now and Agop has moved their productions elsewhere...I saw Mehmet at the NAMM show, and he was getting pretty old and didn't look too good....there was a MAJOR difference I found in the sound of the two brands...For one, Mehmet's seemed to all sound a bit lower and "smoother"...I played quite a few of the jazz models (mel lewis, nostalgia), and they all had that same basic characteristic....A nice sound, but almost (dare I say) a little bland...Good sound, just not a heck of a lot of character...
Now, I am partial to Agops (for good reason), but I also think that they are as a company on the right road...From what I have heard, during the initial splitup of the company, Mehmet wanted to keep things real traditional...The agop guys (Sarkis and Arman...Agop's two sons) wanted to keep the traditional sound, but move forward and explore different possibilies (SEE NEW AGOP SIGNATURE LINE in vault, or read about them in the new Modern Drummer)...I think this is great...they are not afraid to delve into new territory...Also, the Agop side wanted to expand somewhat into the Rock/Pop world of making cymbals, and started an offshoot company, Alchemy...THese are VERY NICE cymbals if anyone has played them (for their purpose...they are NOT JAZZ cymbals), but they all retain a certain element of that Turkish flavor. Mehmet soon jumped on board with the Radiant series, which, IMHO is kind of brash and harsh sounding...a little too extreme in the other direction.
I also feel the Agop side has a HUGE advantage in their marketing department...If anyone has seen the ads in MD for Mehmet's, or been to their website, they will know that there isn't much English, mostly just Turkish...The Agop guys also have an advantage in their distribution...DR strings is a company dedicated to getting their name and product out there...Anyone seen the cool greenish ads running lately? In the near future, we should see these pies getting around a bit more to areas not seeing them before now...
Last but not least, Istanbul Agop offers a MUCH wider selection of cymbals in their catalog...The availability of Mehmets are VERY limited to most dealers...
I know a lot of this doesn't have to do with "which ones sound better" because I feel that every individuals ears will guide them to what they prefer. I feel that information about the company can play a role in deciding, because I sure as heck don't be delving into the Zildjian line any time soon (unless they get that guy back on that wood stool and put HIM in that green jumpsuit)."
Soweit, so gut und informationsreich. In einem weiteren post von einem Agop-Endorser werden die Mehmets als deutlich jazziger in ihrer Anwendungsbandbreite geschildert. Der gute Agop Tomurcuk selber lebt leider nicht mehr, er wurde 1995 bei einem Bootsunfall getötet.
Vielleicht hat euch das ja ein wenig interessiert, sodenn ihr nicht vorher schon hinreichend informiert wart.
Ganz interessant auch, dass Turkish und Mehmet seit letztem Jahr sehr eng zusammenarbeiten, z.B. schmelzen sie zusammen etc. Ist aber auch kein Wunder, denn der größte Teil von Turkish gehört Mehmet Tamdegers Frau.
Ciao,
Phil