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Home Forum Tech Talk Acoustic Drums

Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

ebehme2 - Sat, 09/19/2009 - 00:13 | 2,631 views

I recently decided that i would polish my Zildjian k custom darks, which i've had for the past 2 years, with Zildjian's Cymbal Cleaning Polish.

I have never used this polish before, only the spray on kind, but figured if Zildjian would make a Polish that it would specifically cater to Zildjian cymbals. i followed the directions and used it on all of my cymbals and they looked and sounded fantastic.

This was 4 or 5 weeks ago and over the past week and a half i have broken my 8" hybrid splash, my 16" and 18"custom dark crash. The cracks move with groves of each cymbal.

Could the polish have been the cause? Did i do something wrong? I mean i did follow the directions. I feel cheated. This really sucks, especially cause i am currently gigging with this band and can barely afford a muffin right now.

Has anyone else had this experience or could anyone offer any advice? Would contacting Zildjian do any good?

thanks
Evan

evan

Drummer Comments (11)

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kyle7863 Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Monday, Nov 9, 2009 - 7:59 PM

Just thought I'd throw this out there for other people with this problem, if your cymbal is still under warranty and its cracked, don't keyhole, stop playing and send it in immediately. If the cymbal manufacturer finds any sort of user caused damage to the cymbal they'll void the warranty and your pretty much screwed after that point. If its not under warranty though, you should feel free to do what you will with it.

King Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Wednesday, Nov 4, 2009 - 3:45 PM

I've never heard of a cymbal poslish making the metal brittle enough for it to actually crack. How long have you had the cymbals?

ohio-drummer Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Tuesday, Nov 3, 2009 - 2:00 PM

suprisingly most cymbal cleaners are acid based. The acid does a good job of cleaning them, but can also cause excessive wear. Lemon Pledge does a really good job of cleaning cymbals, and it's not acid based, so you can spray as much as you want to on them. It works especially well with "brilliant" cymbals.

Drummer515 Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Sunday, Oct 25, 2009 - 2:18 PM

hmm, that sucks man! did you get the warranty by any chance? i've broken my 16" A Custom like 3 times, and my warranty has been good and i've gotten free ones. pretty good deal! good luck though on that

GOG Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Friday, Sep 25, 2009 - 2:52 PM

NOPE...just get a size drill that's just slightly bigger then the crack itself. like i said before...you might like the new sound especialy if you're a "thrasher" my "GOGson" has been known to shatter cymbals and when he does the hole drillin' thang, he digs the new sound! but his cymbals don't last much longer after that!
GOOD LUCK BRO!

ThatDrummerKid Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Friday, Sep 25, 2009 - 10:57 AM

wow that's something I'v never heard of before. Umm striking techniques? Ummm, most of you all said the stuff i would have mentioned. Good Luck!

GOG Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Monday, Sep 21, 2009 - 1:14 PM

Hey again,
I agree with what all the other bros said too.
Zildjian (and most all "brass masters") all spray a micro layer of protection on each cymbal to keep it's sheen and sound but of course it doesn't last forever. when you clean your cymbals,it takes that coating off and in a short time they will tarnish and turn green from the salt in your hands.
i know a dude that sets his shit up wearing rubber gloves! that's a little much for me.
I (myself) NEVER polish my cymbals! so when i play small clubs,they crash "bright" but die fast. it keeps the rest of the band from bitchin' too much.
"back in the day" it was called the RUDE effect.
Paste'still makes the "rude" line of cymbals and to look at them you'd think they dug them out of the ground!
I hope this helps?
ROCK ON BROTHERS...GOG

kyle7863 Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Sunday, Sep 20, 2009 - 5:27 PM

The most that a cymbal polish could do is tarnish a cymbal or if you are cleaning low quality bronze cymbals they could turn a greenish color. It was probably just wear.
Polishes don't do anything to the metal, they only extract all of the dust and dirt caught in the grooves and hammerings and such. Honestly i would just take GOG's advice and drill holes at the end of them to stop those cracks in their place. good luck man.

ShawnBray Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Sunday, Sep 20, 2009 - 3:41 AM

I have used many different types of cleaners over the years and have never had this problem, nor heard of it before. I would assume that it was your striking technique as well that caused this and more than likely not your cleaning. You got some excellent advice already. Good luck and Happy Drumming!!!!

remy_starwing Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Saturday, Sep 19, 2009 - 7:30 PM

Well bro, last I knew, Zildjian only had/has the paste type cleaning stuff...
So it might be a mixture of past chemicals mixing with the new and thus creating an acid that eventually broke through the bronze.
Your sticks could be another problem as well, not the cleaner or cymbals man. Your sticks might just be too big...
It could be your technique and where you are hitting the cymbal. Some cymbals are built tough, yes indeed, but most of the time, a drummer's striking technique (and of course adrenaline keeping in mind you are gigging) has a huge toll in the longevity of the cymbal. With the broken cymabls like GOG said, you have to either bore some holes and make them smaller, cutting your sound quality, or just pick up a whole new set. You are better off picking up a new set.
My main assumption is that you were simply striking them too hard, a drummer is supposed to use a lot of fore-arm and wrist actions, not just straight out barbaric-arm-thrashing.
And last I checked, Zildjian cut down their Warranty to 2-Year like Sabian... You know?
Hope it all helps man!

ebehme2 Says Re: Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Friday, Sep 25, 2009 - 12:07 PM

now that i think of it, it most likely was my cymbal technique. I fully understand that i'm not supposed to thrash my arms around, it's that sometimes i do use the tip of my sticks on the top of the cymbal, instead of the edge, when playing eighth notes along with my feet on the bass drum. I feel like when i do this the cymbals are more pronounced or segregated, i guess you could say, rather than bleeding together as i near the end of the fill... i do this especially in smaller clubs where there are no overhead mics, and the band i gig with mainly plays smaller clubs. So this being said, what are some cymbal brands that are built to be a bit tougher?

GOG Says Re: Help... Cymbal Disaster :(

Submitted On: Saturday, Sep 19, 2009 - 2:06 PM

i would drill small holes at the end of the cracks. this will stop them from spreading. BUT... of course it will change the sound! i did this years ago and i actually liked the new sound!
best of luck...GOG