Hello everyone, first post on the forums. Just got my son a kit for his 6th b'day Dec 1st. Turns out we both fell in love with it, and being a gear junky from multiple hobbies and professions I have started to aquire shiny drum stuff at an astounding rate (the wife is a musician so she can't really give me too much grief).

I understand from reading the forums that there are two camps involving cymbal polishing. I mistakenly began to polish my Zildjian K Hybrid splash the other week and decided that it would now have to be completely polished to avoid looking goofy. It turned out nice and shiny and the sound is not markedly different (was a new purchase and already had a pretty bright splash to it). I have a set of A customs that I am just cleaning with 99% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol to remove fresh fingerprints and some of the stick marks. If I am understanding this correctly unless a Zildjian cymbal is in a "brilliant" finish then it has some form of a protective coating on it and polish will remove it along with marks and oxidation (this seems to be the case with the K splash).

My question stems from a recent ebay purchase. Picked up a Z custom 16" medium crash for 60 bucks and it is in great shape, except for some green oxidation marks. Some appear to be from a liquid being splashed on the cymbal and left to dry (long streaks in the cymbal) and various spots. Overall the "patina" looks more like the underside of a cafeteria lunch table than the graceful darkening of the metal over time due to oxidation and some grime buildup. The green areas problably don't cover more than three square inches total and it is very spread out. They don't seem to be too deep into the metal yet but I would hate to let it go for a long time only to find it gets weak in those spots or deeply pitted. So would you personally polish this sucker up and remove the previous owners sludge marks or just leave it? I personally want to polish it but don't want to ruin the cymbal or drastically alter its performance/resale value.

Thanks for the input