That's what I think - if you place the mic very close to the cymbal, which RVG tried to do, you can get phasing-like effects when the cymbal is suspended rather loosely and moves a lot while played.
Tina Brooks' first LP Minor Move is a good example, or the Sam Rivers session with Donald Byrd, Julian Priester, and James Spaulding (forgot the title). And he recorded rather "hot", too.
But tape azimuth plays a role as well, as Chuck said. You never get the exact same azimuth when playing back an old tape, and it's fractions of inches we're talking about!