I keep an old Slingerland functional yet decrepit. I don't bring shiny vintage drums to a crappy gig!

Dirt, grime & rust should be removed. If you want "character", there's plenty of that under the filth. A drum, or any musical instrument is also a machine, that needs to vibrate, move, & tune smoothly. Rust actually creates more rust, & grime, dirt & oils help form acids. ( Nobody's talking about obsessiveness & neurosis, .. it just makes good sense to clean both drums & cymbals).

I couldn't agree more tdennis. Take some pride in your craft and your instrument. They don't have to be showroom quality, but take care of them. As to cymbals, I get the whole aged patina thing, however, when I buy a cymbal, it was because I liked the sound. Assuming I bought that cymbal new, then I'll keep it that way.

I'm all for the maintenance necessary for functionality, but my 1940's Radio Kings would be a whole other thing if I rubbed out the old BDP and shined up the nickel. I like the muted tones that show the maturity of the drum, and I think it all affects not only the sound, but the way you play it.... in a good way.

You've never bought a drum and said, "this is perfect, I'm not changing anything?"

I have a few drums that I love the character they have built up but if there is rust, I clean it so it won't consume the entire drum.

The reason's I do have already been discussed, here is a before an after shot, rust and grim removed, I played it both ways original patina and rust and dirt then detailed and cleaned, to my ear's the cleaned detailed drum had a cleaner more articulate sound.

Hey Fish...I agree about not cleaning cymbals, as they usually sound better with all of the patina on them, but I do like clean drums. Usually vintage design, scratches, knicks and other blemishes will definitely lend itself to show the age and maturity of a drum, don't you think? Plus...with or without grime...they still don't look or sound like modern drums!

If you bought a cymbal dirty, it's probable that you liked the way it sounded, so keep it dirty. If you bought a cymbal clean because you liked the way it sounded and it slowly gets dirty, you probably won't notice the change over time. If you are playing it and are attached to it, you've probabaly adapted to it and cleaning it will change it so much, that you probably will wish you hadn't-----at least in the immediacy of it . That's why so many people are against cleaning cymbals; because cleaning causes dramatic change and dirt happens over time. So letting a cymbal build up a lot of dirt and then cleaning it is different than cleaning it regularily. If it's filthy and you like it keep it filthy; if it's clean and you like it keep it clean BUT there is no way you will ever convince me that dirty cymbals sound better on an overall basis than clean cymbals. A lot of the value arttributed to the so-called patina( which is actually a nice collection of metal oxides and sulphides,filth,detritus,organic matter et al) lies in the change in the metal over the years, too. People are creatures of habit, so a dirty cymbal becomes a measure of style and in a peculiar way vanity. Drums, are a whole other thing it seems, to most people but I don't know why they should be because similar rules should apply. I like to keep drums clean because the dirt smothers them and that goes for heads too.

Well,why bother brushing your teeth?Or showering?Or washing clothes?I enjoy a crisp,clear tone on my cymbals and the attractive shining chrome and covering of my drums.Dirty cymbals leave dots of filth on my drum heads and turn the tips of my wood tip sticks to moosh-That is all....