Zanchi
ZANCHI (also ZANKI) Cymbals
Italian cymbalmaker Fiorello Zanchi began producing hand-made, hand-hammered cymbals in the 60's, possibly earlier. Marketed primarily in Europe. The telltale signature stamp read "F & F Zanchi, Made in Italy"...standing for "Fiorello i Figlie" (Fiorello and Sons). Some of their earlier series included the Vibra Cymbals line, which people disagree as to whether these were produced in the 60's or 70's. Most indications are that the Vibra line was indeed a 60's cymbal line. Vibras were thin and very trashy sounding....quite unique, even by today's standards.
In the 70's, the company name was "changed" to ZANKI...perhaps due to the fact that the Italian "CH" is pronounced as a "K"...but those who do not speak Italian would not know that, so the name was being mispronounced quite a bit...or perhaps, the K was simply a marketing device. The 70's era ZanKi's usually had large ink logo's with the Zanki name. The embossed stamp was changed to read "ZANKI Italy". These cymbals were heavier, still handmade, and more conventional sounding, but also very often quite good....comparable to a late 60's early 70's Avedis Zildjian.
Perhaps Fiorello's biggest contribution to cymbalmaking history was his development of the "Rotocasting" technique...in which molten bronze is poured into a cymbal cast which is mounted on a centrifuge and rotated as the liquefied metal is being cooled insde the cast. Quite cool. This new technique created a brand new sound in cymbals...much brighter than the previous Zankis. This vintage of cymbal now bore a new embossed stamp " Zanki Rotocasting". Some of these cymbals also show an embossment reading "Music Industries".
At some point in the late 70's or early 80's, Zanki (like many other small, independent cymbalmaking families in Italy at the time...including Tronci as well) could no longer produce or compete with the burgeoning market and larger cymbalmakers. There was concern that the Italian tradition of cymbalmaking was at risk of becoming extinct...so these smaller operations joined the largest Italian company/union, UFIP, and ceased independent production. But Fiorello Zanchi brought to UFIP the technique of Rotocasting, which is a UFIP trademark today.
As Zanki was more or less shooting for the mid-price range of the market, some of these cymbals are mediocre at best, while others are quite good, some are exceptional, and some are just plain not very good at all. But they are an important piece of cymbalmaking history...and the persona of Fiorello takes his rightful place on the list of legendary cymbal artisans.
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