Any Drummers? Need Your Help. Remove Graffiti From Kit

J

Joe Calabrese

Well-known member
So, I was playing a show last night, and another drummer used my kit. He took a Sharpie marker and colored his drumsticks black. Needless to say, my drum heads, rims, and cymbals were COVERED in black marks (besides the fact that he had a total disregard for my drums and beat the hell out of the heads). For the drum heads, I'm just gonna have to replace them, send him the bill. But the cymbals are about $300-$600 a piece. Does anyone know how I can remove all the black marks from the cymbals and rims?

BTW, this is the 5th time I've done this show, and this is the only time I've ever run into a problem with people damaging my kit.

Thanks,
Joe
 
JohnLocke.jpg


Did someone say "Mr. Clean"?
 
As for the alcohol and Mr. Clean stuff, I read that it will destroy the grooves on the cymbals and change the tone of the cymbals.
 
How can the grooves be destroyed. They're just...grooves...where the wire is schtuck together.

SO cool when a cymbal unwinds, though, isn't it? (As long as it's someone else's Zyldjian.)
 
Joe Calabrese said:
As for the alcohol and Mr. Clean stuff, I read that it will destroy the grooves on the cymbals and change the tone of the cymbals.
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First for the cymbals, what brand, series, and how bad are the marks? You are right about the sound being altered by using products. There are specially made cleaning products out there for cymbals. With you talking the cymbals being in the $300-$600 I'm assuming either hi-end Paistes, Zildjian Ks, Meinl MB20s or Sabian Vault Artisans.

If the marks are light, some warm water would work best, just remeber to dry them.


My suggestion is when sharing a kit, always, always, always, have other drummers bring their own snare, bass pedal, and cymbals.
 
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Holy crap, sorry to hear about this. If someone drew on my guitars I'd go ape ****.
 
Joe Calabrese said:
As for the alcohol and Mr. Clean stuff, I read that it will destroy the grooves on the cymbals and change the tone of the cymbals.
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Didn´t know that.
So if someone else did it, just bring them to your trusted instruments dealer, let them clean it and let the "abuser" pay the bill...
 
For your sharpied cymbals, rims, and heads..Barkeeper's Friend (<$2 at Walmart), soft sponge, warm water, and a little elbow grease. Rinse thoroughly and towel dry. Rub gently around logos if you want to keep them.

But what do I know..I've only been playing drums professionally for 42 years.
 
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As an occasional drummer with my own kit, I can tell you do not try to clean your drums. You can clean the cymbals but if you try to use chemicals on the snare and toms, you will damage the drums. They do make special cleaning solution for drum kits which you should be able to pick up at your local drum store.

You can always just replace the skins, although it can be a bit pricey, that's what I would do.
 
ZazaCast said:
Hello?
http://www.amazon.com/Zildjian-P1300-Cymbal-Cleaning-Polish/dp/B0007L9NS2

Just saying...
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Yes, he can use that if he has Zildjian Cymbals... Meinl, Sabian, and Paiste all make similar products. All cymbals are finished with a coating, each companies being slightly different. The cleaners from each brand work with those coating differently.

Drums themselves shouldn't need anything more than some water. They have protective layers as well (a clear laquer).

Rims are just metal, which you can pretty much use anything on them. In fact you can replace them fairly cheaply if necessary.
 
As a drummer for 30 years I'd do unspeakable things to someone who did that to my Artstar kit.


Try some Flitz metal polish on the cymbals.
 
ZazaCast said:
It will work on any cymbal just fine...:happy:
(I used to work for Zildjian back in the early '90s)
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Oh, alright. I just thought that the coating might cause a problem; depending on the cymbal type. (cause if I remember correctly, Traditional finish cymbals don't have that coating, correct?)


Not to take the thread in another direction, but what did you do at Zildjian?
 
Andrew McCarrick said:
Oh, alright. I just thought that the coating might cause a problem; depending on the cymbal type. (cause if I remember correctly, Traditional finish cymbals don't have that coating, correct?)


Not to take the thread in another direction, but what did you do at Zildjian?
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Correct REAL forged cymbals (I'm going to get hammered on this one I know) have no coating... but there are coated cymbals (yuck IMHO) and it affects the sound.

I was the Zildjian Rep of the year in 1992 for the northeast territory as part of Ouzunoff & Associates.
 
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