UFIP, an acronym for Unione Fabbricanti Italiani Piatti (Italian Cymbal Manufacturers Union) is an Italian musical instrument manufacturing company based in Pistoia, Tuscany.
The company currently produces cymbals, gongs, and metal percussion instruments.
History
In the early 20th century the "Agati-Tronci" company, a known pipe organ manufacturer, began the production of cymbals, as they were difficult to import from Turkey. In 1926 a worker for the Tronci family, Fiorello Zanchi, left the company to start a new cymbal manufacturer with Manlio Biasei, the "Zanchi & Biasei" company. A number of cymbals manufacturers were founded in Pistoia after the First World War, starting a competition.
thumb|left|UFIP Natural Series 14" hi-hats
On January 6, 1931 four companies (Marradi-Benti, Zanchi & Biasei, Rosati Leopoldo and A. & B. Fratelli Tronci) founded a cooperative society called UFIP to stop the competition between cymbals manufacturers. In 1947 Zanchi left UFIP to start his own company, Zanchi (later spelled "Zanki"). In 1968 UFIP changed from a cooperative society to an actual production company. This particular technique reduces air pockets in the alloy and ensures a thicker bell-to-bow ratio. Most of the UFIP top level cymbal series are manufactured using the Rotocasting technique.