Aging / Darkening Cymbals

[kookel]

Anyone had success "aging" a cymbal (aka darkening its color)? I recently picked up an 18" SS (yes, I shop a lot) that has a super clean spot right at the stamp. Sounds great but the color difference drives me nuts!

 

[musicman64]

our local specialty hardware store sells "Brass Ager"..8 ozs for about $10-$12....works fine...fine broad brush{ like a makeup brush} , takes about 1-2 minutes.in my experience. good luck

 

[kookel]

Blends in? Cool, thanks.

 

[tillerva]

I read maybe in the Cymbal Book about burying cymbals. Not too sure about that.

 

[Buffalo_drummer]

Bun E. told me about burying cymbals in his yard to age them for a few months.

 

[musicman64]

I have used that "ager" to darken the bell....as well as other parts{ bands, stripes, symbols, designs} always worked great. but use care, mask for lines and watch for drips and excess run-off. remember,it darkens everything it touches. The stuff was originally designed to age brass cabinet and furniture handles and hinges.

 

[kookel]

I have used that "ager" to darken the bell....as well as other parts{ bands, stripes, symbols, designs} always worked great. but use care, mask for lines and watch for drips and excess run-off. remember,it darkens everything it touches. The stuff was originally designed to age brass cabinet and furniture handles and hinges.

got it, thanks. If you put it on for a very short period, say 20 seconds, then wipe it off, it won't darken much, correct?

 

[Bongo Brad]

When you do this, how about some before & after pictures for us?

 

[kookel]

our local specialty hardware store sells "Brass Ager"..8 ozs for about $10-$12....works fine...fine broad brush{ like a makeup brush} , takes about 1-2 minutes.in my experience. good luck

the company that makes Brass Ager says it's available online only. What is the name of the product you used?

 

[musicman64]

I got mine first from a specialty hardware store. i see now the same bottle available on Amazon { of course}. Just search for "brass ager" and it should come up. it's the 8 oz bottle with just the words"brass ager" on it..no actual brand name.

 

[kookel]

When you do this, how about some before & after pictures for us?

If it comes out right -- you got it!

 

[SteveDilksDrums]

Theres one cymbal patina solution that Spinbal makes. I haven't tried it but based on the video it works pretty good and fast. Note that this one doesn't seem to effect the tone of the cymbal much.

A homemade solution is Salt and Ammonia. Lance Campeau has a video on how this works. Make sure to neutralize the cymbal with baking soda after using this method or the reaction will continue to happen and it may shorten the life of your cymbal. Also note that with this method, the tone of the cymbal may change slightly. As with any patina solution, be careful.

&t=


I've tried other methods such as burying the cymbal in the garden, using brass patina solution and just plain sweat. I find burying the cymbals does not change the colour/look and has very minimal effect on the tone. The brass patina solution darkens the colour but leaves the tone unchanged. Sweat works great as a patina solution but it takes a while. For months i'd rub my sweaty hands, arms, tshirt over my cymbals and over time they gain a greenish patina. This also seems to calm the cymbals down, darkening the tone and lowering the volume slightly.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

 

[DaveCollingwood]

I experimented with a few different solutions of "stuff", placing a piece of B20 bronze into each. I guess this thread isn't of much use as I'm not going to divulge the ingredients, but just out of interest here's a range of effects that can be achieved, some a bit more aggressive than others:

 

[kookel]

Theres one cymbal patina solution that Spinbal makes. I haven't tried it but based on the video it works pretty good and fast. Note that this one doesn't seem to effect the tone of the cymbal much.

A homemade solution is Salt and Ammonia. Lance Campeau has a video on how this works. Make sure to neutralize the cymbal with baking soda after using this method or the reaction will continue to happen and it may shorten the life of your cymbal. Also note that with this method, the tone of the cymbal may change slightly. As with any patina solution, be careful.

&t=


I've tried other methods such as burying the cymbal in the garden, using brass patina solution and just plain sweat. I find burying the cymbals does not change the colour/look and has very minimal effect on the tone. The brass patina solution darkens the colour but leaves the tone unchanged. Sweat works great as a patina solution but it takes a while. For months i'd rub my sweaty hands, arms, tshirt over my cymbals and over time they gain a greenish patina. This also seems to calm the cymbals down, darkening the tone and lowering the volume slightly.

Hope this helps! Good Luck!

Great info, thanks!

 

[Dave H.]

I like my cymbals bright & shiny ! To me all the stuff of old dirty cymbals sounding better is crap.I like my Zildjians to sound like they did when they came from the factory. It may be from hearing loss but I can hear clean cymbals better. My high end & mid range hearing is getting bad. To many years drumming, working in boiler rooms & being a blacksmith have not been kind to my hearing.

Slawman

 

[dogmanaut]

The best and easiest way I'm aware of to age a cymbal is buy it then wait for anywhere from 1 year to 10 years to 100 years. Heck, even 1 day would work. When you come back to it, BOOM! It's going to be aged -- either a lot or a little, depending on how long you wait. Easy as pie and practically foolproof. I've got whole bags of cymbals aging as I type this, in fact!

 

[DaveCollingwood]

Go on a rocket traveling at the speed of light for a couple of years (take some books), come back to earth and they'll have aged a lot more than you would have.

 

[michaelg]

I think cymbals stored in bags wont age too quickly but perhaps leaving it in a garage or shed exposed to air and moisture for 6 months might hurry things along.