What's the latest status of the Paiste Cymbal Cleaner and Protector?

[zenstat]

That someone on Drummerworld is also here and his credentials are impeccable. He is a major wiki contributor.

@type85 knows his cleaners.

Wiki cymbal cleaning supplemental - Cymbal

www.cymbal.wiki

 

[scheme]

Any European DFO members confirm?

I'm going to do the smell test I still have half a bottle of the original Paiste cymbal cleaner here. An probably let it confirm from a non-smoker, whose olfactory sense isn't as messed up as mine. But could take a few weeks. Also got the perfect guinea pig, hello otherwise useless 2002 Accent Cymbal laying around in my cymbal bag for years

 

[rsvp_NJ]

Funny you should mention, I just picked up a bottle of the protectant last week at the Sam Ash in Lombard, IL. I was talking about how scarce both the cleaner and protectant are, the associate said there are only 2 bottles of the protectant available at Sam Ash locations, no cleaner. Which locations? I didn't ask but I'm sure if you call any Sam Ash they can look it up.
Last week I acquired a 1984, 20" 2002 ride from the fine gentlemen at Drugan's here in IL. Now, I appreciate a fine, even patina on vintage cymbals and own a couple like that. However, I draw the line when there's enough grime and DNA from at least 15 people coating the cymbal. I wanted to at least try the cleaner but it's nowhere to be found. From the research I did it sounds like Paiste is in the process of reformulating the cleaner and protectant, no ETA as of yet.
I've used Wright's Copper Cream, Bar Keepers Friend and Blue Magic Metal Polish, all with good results in the past. My only concern was the 2002 (B8, CuSn8) alloy because of the higher copper content. I decided to go with the Blue Magic followed by the protectant. It's been 5 days since the cleaning/application with about 7 hours of playing time on the ride. So far so good! Below is the before and after...
View attachment 486340 View attachment 486341 View attachment 486342 View attachment 486343 View attachment 486344

Beautiful result! Thanks for the encouraging photos.

 

[Toast Tee]

The smell test is good, but who knows if it's watered-down with something?.
Something else to watch, if you still have a brand new bottle from the good ol days. Check the level it's filled to. You can see through the bottles, and they didn't fill to the top line. I've seen people selling on Ebay, but they were filled to the top. I wouldn't trust it. I got pretty luck, and got enough cleaner to last me.

 

[scheme]

Stahl-Fix test coming soon

 

[type85]

Here's the cleaning comparison I did and posted it on the Paiste wiki page:

Wiki cymbal cleaning supplemental - Cymbal

www.cymbal.wiki

This took months of cleaning over 25 cymbals!
Regarding the Stahl fix:
"According to my source, he was at the factory about 20+ years ago and saw the Paiste techs pouring Stahl fix from a large bulk container into the orange Paiste cymbal cleaner bottles! The formula also changed around that time as well, another user has some of the "old" Paiste cleaner and when comparing the two (new and old versions), he says the "smell" changed from the old 1990's cleaner compared to the "modern" version. He also says latest Paiste cleaner does smell very similar to the current Mr. Muscle."

Original advert, they were bought out by Johnson wax at some point in the 1990's (?)....

 

[Toast Tee]

I believe i had mentioned this a while ago.
I don't remember where I heard it, but someone said the Meinel cymbal cleaner works well, and is similar. I never looked into it, so I'm just curious if anyone tried it, or looked at the ingredients? I wouldn't have remember that if I didn't think the source was reliable. It's an excuse to go to GC anyway

 

[scheme]

Here's the cleaning comparison I did and posted it on the Paiste wiki page:

Wiki cymbal cleaning supplemental - Cymbal

www.cymbal.wiki

This took months of cleaning over 25 cymbals!
Regarding the Stahl fix:
"According to my source, he was at the factory about 20+ years ago and saw the Paiste techs pouring Stahl fix from a large bulk container into the orange Paiste cymbal cleaner bottles! The formula also changed around that time as well, another user has some of the "old" Paiste cleaner and when comparing the two (new and old versions), he says the "smell" changed from the old 1990's cleaner compared to the "modern" version. He also says latest Paiste cleaner does smell very similar to the current Mr. Muscle."

Original advert, they were bought out by Johnson wax at some point in the 1990's (?)....

View attachment 595188

Wow, thanks! I certainly can‘t provide such a big sample size, but will share a direct comparsion.

What is your conclusion, which one of the cleaners do you currently use?

 

[type85]

Wow, thanks! I certainly can‘t provide such a big sample size, but will share a direct comparison.

What is your conclusion, which one of the cleaners do you currently use?

It really depends on the condition of the cymbal:

Good condition with full clearcoat: soap and water or cymbal soap

Dirty with full clearcoat: any of the moderate "abrasive" cleaners will do

Nasty, black/green dookie covering the cymbal, if there was a clearcoat it's long gone now!: Flitz spray, rinse, Bluemagic and tons of elbow grease (to bring back the shine), rinse with barkeepers to get rid of the Bluemagic remnants, rinse again, coat with your choice of coating depending on alloy (see cleaning supplemental).