So in your professional opinion what should be used to clean them? All i want to do is bring the shine back. I dont want to dig into the metal at all.

I don't shine vintage cymbals ever. If there is grunge or some residue I use mild soap and water and a soft cloth, but even that is rare. There is a reason that almost all vintage cymbals are not shiny and new looking. And that reason is that most collectors and players of vintage cymbals like and want to keep the deep rich patina that took decades to develop. If you want 'em shiny, then shine away. After all they are your cymbals. :-) But if you shine up an old K and sell it on eBay, don't be shocked if there are fewer bidders or the final bid is lower than expected.

Oh they won't ever be sold. If you look at my posts in the other things I have the kit that goes with them that will never be sold. Im shining the whole kit and thought it would look much better if i had shiny cymbals. The patina on them is only about 4-5 years old anyway.

4-5 years is not a lot. As I said, they are your's. Enjoy them.

Most of our vintage cymbals have 50 to 60 years of patina. A rare exception is a slightly shiny 20" A bop ride, a trans stamp from either the very late '40s or early '50s. It was cased for most of its life and as a result. I'm pretty sure the shine is original since the almost complete ink stamp would probably not have survived had it been cleaned.

No it really isn't a lot. I would rather clean them and start over. If you look at them close the black stuff is like remnants of a pair if sticks with tape on them. I can only imagine what that's doing to the overall sound. I would just like to restart the process and make a new patina over the years. Its far from the last time they will be used, these are my preferred cymbals. They have a sense of warmth that you don't get with new cymbals. I will let everyone know just how much the sound changes if I clean them. It's still not 100% sure what will happen. It's the last thing to get cleaned if I choose to do so.

Oh I wanted to say thank you guys for all the help. This is a wonderful forum to be a part of and you all seem very helpful. I hope I can someday contribute back here.

Giving us a purchase date with that stamp is a big help and will probably be something we talk about a lot around here.

Gary

Haha that would be best wouldn't it. Really stick it to you guys. All I can say is you can go off of what I said. If you don't wish to believe me that's cool I understand the need for proof. However go up into my other thread and look at them WFL drums I have. Then also should not exist either specially in a wrap. I'm not trying to be defensive at all, just saying sometimes what doesn't seem real or true is just that. The only difference is I can prove these drums are correct, proving the cymbals were bought with the kit in 1958 are hard because sadly I don't have a receipt for proof, you have to trust me. If not that's ok too. Its all a good time here that's all. Showing each other amazing kits.

well Boslover . lol i dont use steel wool ,crazy caustic chem ,household cleaner's , and junk polishing products that you would buy at the store . i dont harm the the stamped logo you would have seen that in the pic , so that means no diging . i use mother nature approved bio degardable products my friend . and some of the finishes i do on vintage cymbals are exactly how they would haved looked brand new . to me thats the vintage sound that people talk about when they hear old recordings , cuz they did not have 30 or 40 year old cymbals full of gunk and what not , i'm not talking clean patina . cleaning cymbals is a topic that can go on for ever . i dont push my services in fact i dont even advertise as of yet , and still they come from word of mouth . i may be an unknown to you and many , but some of our customers that come in our doors leave me speachless and they are known to many .

Mr. Lud, i think you missunderstood me, i'm not disputing you i'm glad that you have given us the 1958 date so that we have more to go off of. As i said i have cymbals like yours that i have suspected of pre-1960 but no eveidence of it.

Gary.