Cymbal Maintenance

Cleaning

It is a natural fact that cymbals collect dirt over time. Handling and playing both leave their marks. The acid contained in sweat makes the bronze tarnish and develop ugly stains. This applies to all alloys containing mostly copper. B8 has the highest amount of copper, thus B8 cymbals are most affected. Sticks leave marks as well. With each stroke the lacquer or wax covering the stick is pressed into the grooves of the cymbal and stays there. Air humidity, dust, coke, ashes, etc etc all have their share in creating the difference between a new and a used cymbal.

So the question is, once the new look of a cymbal is gone, how can you bring it back? Frankly, as my experience is concerned, there is no way to revert a used cymbal to the look of a new one. Although there are efficient means to clean a cymbal, it just will not look 'new' afterwards. With all Turkish school cymbals (B20 with no coating, like Zildjian, Sabian,...) the 'new' look is created by freshly lathed bronze and fresh logos. Just letting these sit alone will change their look. Other with coated cymbals (Paiste and Meinl). They have a layer of sprayed-on lacquer or wax, that is thin enough to not muffle the sound. If you're after cymbals that look new permanently, don't play them ;-)

I rarely clean any of my cymbals. Years ago I bought a bottle of Paiste Cymbal Cleaner, but never used it up. I found it didn't hurt my instruments, but didn't take off the dirt either. So I switched to some metal polish, that did take off the dirt. It took off the coating and some metal, too... My experience is, if you're really concerned about your shiny new cymbal, don't touch the surface, handle it by the edge only. Some cymbals have a protective covering (Meinl and Paiste come to mind). Cleaning any of those with aggressive methods is counterproductive, since you are likely taking off the coating, leaving you with a cymbal that will collect dirt even quicker. If you're concerned about stick marks use nylon tips, they hardly leave any. You see, I'm not really an expert at cleaning cymbals. You may want other opinions:

Drums & Percussion FAQ at Harmony Central

Look at current newsgroup discussions about cymbal cleaning

Cymbal cleaning-do you do it? at The Independent Drummer Discussion Board

See Paiste's official tips on cleaning and handling their cymbals

Here is an article about Zildjian cymbal cleaners

Here is another article by the makers of Kick'N Brass cymbal cleaner.

Another cymbal care product by Saluda.

Fixing

Fixing a broken cymbal is an issue, especially when you are on a budget or the instrument in question is a 'one and only' or otherwise irreplaceable. I have seen several broken cymbals and damaged a few myself over the years. Let me say in advance, all my broken cymbals were the result of gross mistreatment. The baseline is, fixing cymbals starts at not breaking them. While this may sound silly, it must be said once, again, and for all: Play your cymbals the right way and they will last for years, possibly decades. You may want to look at some professional tips for cymbal handling here. Paiste offer some advice on cymbal handling on their web page.

The durability of cymbals used to be a big problem back in the days when alloys and manufacturing techniques were inconsistent. Nowadays one can be pretty much assured that instruments from any name brand just will not break, unless mistreated. In case you're so unlucky to break one in spite of proper playing technique, most manufacturers will not hesitate to replace it, usually at minimal charge. Be prepared to answer questions about your playing style, though. Cymbal makers know what a tortured cymbal looks like.

Typical Defects

The typical defects on used cymbals include

Cracks
Nicks
Dents
Key holing
Warping

Cracks

Crack along the grooves of a mistreated Wuhan China cymbal. The first step (pictured) is stopping the crack from growing by drilling holes at the ends. The second is widening the crack to keep the edges from touching. The third is ease your playing and hope for the best.

When this cymbal's edge is hit near the crack the impact stress cannot be dispersed along the circumference anymore resulting in more cracks, thus ruining the instrument completely. The only way to keep it going for some more time is to generously cutting out the damaged area and rounding off the cut afterwards.

The rule of thumb is to add some more space around the crack (red line) to make sure any invisible (hairline) portions of the crack will be removed. If you fail to cut out the entire fault line, cracking will continue.

Nicks

Nicks are the consequential damage when a cymbal is dropped and falls on its edge like this one did. It depends on the type of cymbals, though. Where a thin flexible B8 splash dents or just gives and pops back, a hard hand hammered B20 cymbal is prone to break. Nicks on the edge may later turn into cracks, especially if you're a heavy-handed player. If in doubt, round off with a fine file.

Dents

Dents appear on thin cymbals when they are played too hard. They also appear frequently on the cups of thin cymbals when they go down with the stand. This tilts the area around the hole.

This Sound Formula cymbal was treated with a few very cautious hammer strokes to soften the dent on the edge it got from falling on the leg of a cymbal stand.

Key holing

When played, the cymbal moves up and down and the edge of the whole rubs against the thread of the stand. After some time the cymbal's edge cuts the sleeve and the sharp thread starts grinding a 'keyhole' into the bell. This often goes unnoticed since the point of contact cannot be seen when playing. Turning the cymbal into a different position doesn't help because the keyhole will 'snap' to the thread and grinding will continue. I have once seen a 24" A. Zildjian Medium Ride with a double keyhole. The bigger one was more than 20 mm long!

There is no repair once the damage has happened. Key holing may be stopped by mounting a grommet into the hole. These should be available in a regular hardware shop. It is a good idea to check all of your cymbals' holes for sharp edges. They should be carefully sanded off. Key holing happens mostly with heavier cymbals and on tilted stands. Light cymbals move around freely rather than 'locking' in a certain position. Anyway, watch your sleeves!

These writings represent just my personal view. You may want a second opinion.

Tales of bad luck

I once damaged an 8'' Avedis Zildjian splash by putting it on a thick pole. The cymbal couldn't move freely and quickly developed half a dozen small cracks (about 3 to 8 mm) radiating from the hole. I was able to stop those cracks from going further outwards by drilling a 2 mm hole at the end of each. After fixing I gave it to a friend who used it for years more (applying his better playing technique).

The delicate Formula 602 splash of another friend developed a 12 mm crack at the edge from overplaying. He took the cymbal back to the dealer and they sent it in to Paiste for repair. Paiste cut out the crack and rounded off the edge afterwards, going about 25 mm into the cymbal. He had to pay for the work.