Is It Common For Some People Not To Take Care of Their Gear?

There appears to be a very definite line being drawn between "taking care of your cymbals" and "cleaning your cymbals." Not that it concerns me too much what other people think, but it's almost comforting to know that I'm not alone in my thoughts about it. To me, taking care of them involves the proper usage and storage of them, so as to not damage them. Cleaning them is a preference, and the lack of keeping them clean to the point of shining is not considered abuse or neglect or "not taking care of them."
 
People are just different.

I don't take care of any of my personal possessions. It's just stuff.

I mean, I take care to make sure it remains functional but I rarely clean anything. If something gets dinged up with use, it doesn't phase me a bit. They are tools and they are going to get used.
 
There appears to be a very definite line being drawn between "taking care of your cymbals" and "cleaning your cymbals." Not that it concerns me too much what other people think, but it's almost comforting to know that I'm not alone in my thoughts about it. To me, taking care of them involves the proper usage and storage of them, so as to not damage them. Cleaning them is a preference, and the lack of keeping them clean to the point of shining is not considered abuse or neglect or "not taking care of them."

^ This

I transport mine in a Protection Racket bad and still set it down gently as I don't want to damage any edges. I play them reasonably. I've never cracked a cymbal in 45+ years of playing them. So I don't consider them neglected or abused. Okay, the '80s Avedis I drilled holes into to make an Ozone out of might be considered abuse, but I hadn't pulled that out for a gig in 7-8 years, since I have many other options I like better. I do have one shiny cymbal. A 14" A Custom fast crash. I'm waiting for it to dull. But in the meantime it looks sloppy with big smudges on it so I wipe it off occasionally. Everything else is unvarnished and seeking it's own natural look.

I dust off the drums occasionally and have been known to polish them a bit with a microfiber cloth every year or so. A bass player friend turned me on to these and I use them on my guitars to clean the sweat off the neck and where my arm goes. Occasionally I'll use an air nozzle to blow excessive dust off things. But not to the point of breaking things down and individually polish each bit so that a 15 year old piece is indistinguishable from new. Nothing wrong with having nice stuff, taking care of it and making it last by not abusing it.

But if you're gigging, even with good cases, things are going to happen. Little nicks and wear marks that are the nature of playing instruments are going to show up. Be reasonably careful and they won't build up too fast.
 
I'm not really in to shiny cymbals, but I'm not really into grimy ones, either. I wipe mine down a few times a year, and if it doesn't come off with a wet rag and some elbow grease, it stays on. On a side note, my K ride that I got used a couple of years ago came with the most beautiful perfect patina on it...ahh. I think it's late 70s or 80s.

But to answer the OP, yes, some people like to treat their stuff like crap. Which is what it will inevitably become. My old guitarist told me about a drummer he played with for a bit who just didn''t give about his or anyone else's gear. Apparently one time after a gig he asked if he could toss his tom in the back of my friend's car. Then he literally threw this poor rack tom from 6 or 8' into the back of the Vibe, on top of all the guitar stuff back there.
 
I keep my gear maintained for the same reason that I keep my house, cars, lawnmower, etc maintained: I hate stuff breaking down on me when I'm using it.
 
I think it's safe to say that most of the members of Drummerworld take care of their equipment. I've come across drummers who are proud of the way that they abuse their kits. Some try to see how soon they can crack a cymbal or break a drum head. I had one aquaintence tell me that he would never buy another Gretsch kit because his Catalina bass drum cracked when he jumped on top of it. It always pisses me off when people do the whole "bash your instruments" thing at the end of a concert. I mean it's so cliche that even The Who don't do it anymore.
 
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