Zildjian cymbal cleaner ruined my ride?

brianbags

Member
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^^^This is when I just cleaned it off and hit it a few times. It gets a LOT worse.

The other night I pulled out the cymbal cleaner to clean two crashes and my new ride. It's an A Custom 22" ping ride. Top of the line, $335. They all had whitish marks on them for the head of the stick, and all come off. The cleaner worked wonders on all of them, seemingly including the ride. (I only used the cleaner on its bell btw, everything else was fine.)

Well the next day I go to play and when I hit the area of the ride I mostly play on (the bell) black marks start showing up. They go on the sticks too, so then when I hit a drum the white head gets those beautiful black marks on it also. When I try to clean it it only smears (maybe you can see the black around the bell) and I get marks again when I hit it.

Obviously this is unacceptable and I'm kind of pissed. It's a new ride for god's sake and it's an A Custom, which are supposed to look amazing. Now it looks really horrible. Does anyone know what the hell happened here and how I can fix it??? Thanks.
 
Did you wipe the cymbal cleaner stuff off of your stuff after cleaning them?
If you didn't that could be the oxidation coming off of the cymbals.
 
Did you wipe the cymbal cleaner stuff off of your stuff after cleaning them?
If you didn't that could be the oxidation coming off of the cymbals.

Yeah. Well I put the cleaner on a cloth and wiped the cymbal. They were all dry afterwards. I might have used a wet paper towel after too, I forget...
 
What was the actual cleaner that you used?

I have Groove Juice at home ad when cleaning my china i did it as the instructions described but after spraying it on the whole surface of the cymbal, i left it there a bit longer than need be. It says 'spray on and leave for 30 seconds' and i left it for about 40 - 45 seconds. There isn't any damage or anything, but there are small specs where the droplets of spray were left. Presumably it's meant to corrode the dirt and finger marks away, my guess is that it corroded a small amount of the surface material, nothing major but even so.

Depending on the cleaner you use and the instructions on the back, even a few seconds can make a difference.
I assume (and hope) you followed the instructions to the letter, yes?
xoxo
 
wash with soapy water then dry.....Ive done this for about 25 years to all sorts of cymbals with no problem. Ive never tried the brand specific cleaners....just didnt make sense when I have what I need at home.

F
 
That sucks. A little off topic but that cymbal says Avedis Zildjian.....is that all it says on the whole cymbal?. I have about 4 of them and cant figure out what they are, are they high range? expensive? they sound good not cheap and they all look exactly like yours and are probably quite old, say 10-15 years old. Thanks for any info.
 
That sucks. A little off topic but that cymbal says Avedis Zildjian.....is that all it says on the whole cymbal?. I have about 4 of them and cant figure out what they are, are they high range? expensive? they sound good not cheap and they all look exactly like yours and are probably quite old, say 10-15 years old. Thanks for any info.

You'll probably have to write down the Serial Number and send it to Zildjian. They may be able to help.
 
That sucks. A little off topic but that cymbal says Avedis Zildjian.....is that all it says on the whole cymbal?. I have about 4 of them and cant figure out what they are, are they high range? expensive? they sound good not cheap and they all look exactly like yours and are probably quite old, say 10-15 years old. Thanks for any info.

Pics??


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Pics??


................................

I work offsore and will be home in one more week, I will take some pictures then. The logo looks exaclly the same as his and one of my crashes just says 16 Medium on the top. I have a 14 crash, 16 crash, 18 crash, 22 crash/ride and a 22 ride which all look the same with Zildjian Avedis in large logo on them. I will try to find s/n on them also.
 
I work offsore and will be home in one more week, I will take some pictures then. The logo looks exaclly the same as his and one of my crashes just says 16 Medium on the top. I have a 14 crash, 16 crash, 18 crash, 22 crash/ride and a 22 ride which all look the same with Zildjian Avedis in large logo on them. I will try to find s/n on them also.

Without seeing pics, I'm suggesting Avedis (A Series)......but I'll reserve the right to change my mind. :)

Pro level cymbals if so. The staple of many a drummer, including myself.

FWIW, I've never had much luck finding out info. from serial numbers. I'm still waiting to hear from someone who has.
 
Without seeing pics, I'm suggesting Avedis (A Series)......but I'll reserve the right to change my mind. :)

Pro level cymbals if so. The staple of many a drummer, including myself.

FWIW, I've never had much luck finding out info. from serial numbers. I'm still waiting to hear from someone who has.

Thanks, I hope they are A series. I will probably sell them as Im going the Sabian route. They also came with a Zildjian Scimitar bronze 16" or maybe 14", doesnt sound nearly as good as the others, any info on the Scimitar? Thanks
 
Zildjian says as far as I know ,that the only types of cyms. that can be cleaned are the Brilliant finish ones ,which I have ,may buy the zild. cym cleaner and try o. small splash first any more suggestions? ?? would appreciate thanks, kenny
 
Zildjian says as far as I know ,that the only types of cyms. that can be cleaned are the Brilliant finish ones ,which I have ,may buy the zild. cym cleaner and try o. small splash first any more suggestions? ?? would appreciate thanks, kenny

Step 1: Wipe with a clean, dry towel.
Step 2: Wipe with a clean, damp towel (only water).
Step 3: Wipe with a clean, dry towel.
Done.

If you need a little extra oomph removing a stain or stick marks, use an original Mr. Clean magic eraser (not the extra strength one)
 
If you used the Zildjian paste cleaner (the kind that turns black),
I've found that just rubbing with clean cloths won't get all of it off.

Try using Dawn dish washing liquid, rubbing with a cloth under running water.
Make sure to dry it thoroughly, and it may take doing it more than once.

Maybe not recommended, but I always put a coating of wax on them when finished.
Make sure to polish that wax too. Even that can leave stick marks.

I only use Zildjian paste cleaner when I get old, used, and really ratty cymbals.
IMO, it's pretty harsh stuff.
 
Just to clarify something in case the video referenced above doesn't mention it (I didn't watch it)...

The "black" stuff mentioned in the op are the dirt/impurities coming out of the brass. You will get this effect anytime you POLISH brass or even silver and gold to some degree. If you are wiping the cymbal with a polishing compound in it (which is what cymbal cleaners typically were back in the day) you are going to get this until the cymbal has been rubbed away to nothing. You have to get a feel for when enough is enough. When you are satisfied with the "shine" you stop the polishing process and switch to the CLEANING process. You wash away the polishing compound and any of the residue with some warm water and a clean cloth. One final wipe with a dry cloth and you should be good to go (even that last wipe is bound to have a bit if gray on it). This second phase has been outlined above I believe.

Now, if all the cymbal needs is a "cleaning" this should be done with a cleaner NOT a polishing compound. A "cleaner" could simply be warm water and elbow grease or just some mild soap.

Wiping down your cymbals right after playing (especially fingerprints which have natural oils on them) will help keep the process as easy as possible.
 
Step 9 here covers cleaning:

https://zildjian.com/campaign/cymbal-care

I think the bit about not using polish on traditional finish cymbals is relatively new.
New at least to me. I think I only heard about it in the last year or so.
I still use polish when I get a ratty old used cymbal - even if it's not recommended.
 
My nylon tip sticks do a nice job of marking up Zildjian A's over time, especially the hats obviously. I just use water with a little bit of soap and a soft micro-fiber cloth. A little elbow grease the the marks are gone. Plus it doesn't damage the light coating Zildjian uses on the cymbals to keep them looking good. I'd probably never use actual cymbal cleaner unless I bought a used cymbal that really looked bad.
 
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