Istanbul Agop
Istanbul Agop's founder, Agop Tomurcuk, was born in Istanbul-Turkey in 1941. Growing up in the Samatya neighborhood of Istanbul, he followed in the footsteps of his older brothers Oksant and Garbis, by beginning work as an apprentice cymbal-smith at the age of 9 at the only cymbal factory in Turkey. Here, Agop learned, and later helped to refine every aspect of the cymbal making process, becoming a master at every process and eventually becoming the chief cymbal-smith, until that company ceased production of their cymbals in Turkey in 1977.
Feeling “like a fish out of water,” after a little over a year spent working various odd jobs, Agop became to determined to continue the Turkish tradition of handmade cymbals on his own. With a little bit of asking around, he was able to locate and buy up much of the equipment and tools he used at his previous company. He rented a small workshop in the Bakırköy-Kartaltepe area of Istanbul, and began to experiment and produce some cymbals with the help of his dear wife, Uskui Tomurcuk. But the limited resources and manpower made things very difficult.
“At the end of the day, my father’s cousin once brought him home by carrying him on his back” explains Agop’s son and now company Co-President, Arman Tomurcuk. Eventually, he was able to set up a small, but functional factory and his older brother, Oksant joined the company as chief cymbalsmith. They began by selling cymbals locally to some music stores in Istanbul’s Tünel area, but the prospects of this were limited.
-
Istanbul Agop 21" Xist ION Dark Ride
$298.87Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 17" Xist ION Dark Crash
$214.78Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
Istanbul Agop Clap Stack
$432.55Order Soon. Only 2 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 19" Signature Crash
$441.65Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 16" Signature Agop Hi-Hats
$628.90Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 21" Xist Ride
$298.87Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 14" Signature Agop Hi-Hats
$537.08Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 15" Xist Hi-Hats
$375.10Order Soon. Only 3 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 19" Xist Natural Crash
$245.03Order Soon. Only 2 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 18" Xist Natural Crash
$249.26Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
Istanbul Agop 15" 30th Anniversary Hi Hats
$736.85Order Soon. Only 1 left!
-
USED - 21” Instanbul Agop Special Edition Jazz Ride - 1980g - VIDEO DEMO
$279.00Backordered-Reserve Now
Out of stock
-
USED 20” Istanbul Agop Traditional Flat Ride - 1810g - VIDEO DEMO
$279.00Backordered-Reserve Now
Out of stock
-
USED 22” Istanbul Agop EPOCH Lenny White Signature Ride w/ Rivets - 2618g - VIDEO DEMO
$379.00Backordered-Reserve Now
Out of stock
-
NOS - 18” Istanbul Agop Cindy Blackman OM Crash - 1243g
$289.00Backordered-Reserve Now
Out of stock