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How often do you clean/ polish your cymbals?


FitchFY

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That's it: simple question. How often do you clean/ polish your cymbals?

And if you do actually polish them, what do you use? I've got a few plates I should clean up, but it's been like a decade since I've sprayed and wiped down a cymbal.

What's the MO nowadays on plate scrubbin'?

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I use the Zildjian paste to keep my ACustoms looking new. I remove all logos anyway, so the fact that polishes eat those up doesnt matter to me. I have Wuhans, some AA Hats, and some Factory Metal pieces that I dont clean as often, but the ACs and my AA China were meant to be high luster and cut through. Letting them get all dirtified to reduce tones and cutting power really defeats the purpose of ACs to me.

I have used Groove Juice in the past, and it just didnt cut it for me. It took several sprays and some hard scrubbing to get any of the buildup and patina off the cymbals, especially IN THE GROOVES. While it does work well for keeping things clean (getting off sweat spots or fingerprints), it didnt compare to the polishing compound.

The paste is messy, and WILL stain anything it touches with the black residue left after using, but nothing cleans up your cymbals better.

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Quote Originally Posted by Drumstix101 View Post
I leave them alone...patina is your friend.
Unless you use a line specifically lathed and polished to give a brighter, louder sound. About 1/3-1/2 of the cymbals out there I would say.

I understand that people love their patina on old, big rides, and that it helps calm the sound. But saying there is a benefit otherwise seems nearly superstitious to me, and I feel its just a trendy thing in most cases. Protection of the metal should be a non issue, unless you play and store your stuff in corrosion welcoming conditions. Ive got a 14" crash that has been kept patina free since 97, and there isnt a touch of pitting or corrosion to be found.

Could be wrong, its happened once before. I think its just a looks preference, some people like dark, murky cymbals, some like shiny mirrors on their kit.
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About every six to nine months. I use a very watery paste of Barkeepers friend. Wet the cymbal, apply a little powder, work it into the grooves (be sure you're wearing gloves), let it sit for a minute, and then rinse thoroughly. I follow this up with some automotive paste wax. I have a 17" A Zildjian crash that I bought in the late 80's. The logo has faded a little but is still readable after about eight cleanings. All my other cymbals are much older and the logos are long gone.

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Quote Originally Posted by FitchFY View Post
That's it: simple question. How often do you clean/ polish your cymbals?
The only cymbals I clean are my Paiste 2002's, and I use Paiste cymbal cleaner, followed by Paiste cymbal polish.
My Bosphorus' are either partially unlathed, or completely unlathed, depending on the cymbal, and only one of my Sabian cymbals is polished.
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Hardly ever here as well. I leave my drums set up most of the time so I might take a wet washcloth and wipe off the dust and then run a quick dry towel over them to dry them, but that's about it. But I do make it a point to try and not leave a bunch of fingerprints on them if I can.

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Short of have a spooge of goo on a particular cymbal, I hardly ever buff them down. I think is kind of a mind {censored} that taking off fingerprints or dust on cymbals really brighten them up. I think we THINK they brighten them up because they are clean and shiney. No hate mail please, what I mean is, unless there is a some visibly caked-on goober on there, fingerprints and dust just isn't going to make the cymbal audibly different. I think most of us do clean them for OCD and peace of mind reasons. It "freshens" everything up. "Ahhhhhhh, I can play now....." which is valid....

For me, dusting them off after a gig with a towel pretty much does it for me..."good enough" that takes off the moisture from sweat/new fingerprints etc etc. I use the Groove Juice for the caked-on stuff and maybe do that once every one or two years. I play Sabian BTW...Vaults/HHX/Evolutions mostly.

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