funny thing about silver

[bort]

The Marzan tuba I owned was silver... it was about 40 years old, and not played much in recent history. I'm not sure if the age had anything to do with it, but it really didn't show much tarnish. If I polished it, it would get VERY shiny... but if I left it alone, it still looked just fine. No smudges, no weird tarnish colors, etc.

I wonder if modern silver plating is any different than old silver plating (besides the thickness of the coating)?

Apart from that... let's see this tenor tuba!

[Odins dog]

I do believe that particular instrument is nickel plated, which is a bit more of a PITA than silver to keep clean.

[PMeuph]

1. You can play it with gloves.
2. You can buy a polishing cloth and clean it every time you play
3. You can wipe down certain areas using ammonia-free window cleaner to remove smudges.

[dwerden]

I know that platings vary a bit, but overall, silver requires a bit more work. It can be worth the effort because of the lovely shine when it's cleaned and polished!

The spray shown above is really handy for hard-to-reach spots between tubes/valves, but I much prefer the liquid Hagerty polish. I think the very action of "polishing it in" helps the tarnish preventative action to take hold better.

So first off I would get some Hagerty 10120 Silversmiths' Silver Polish.

Then get the horn looking really good by polishing it, letting the polish haze dry, then buffing it off. (If you need to use the spray to get in between things, then I would do that first.)

Once you have it looking nice, you should wipe it down with a soft cloth after playing, getting to everywhere you have touched. It takes just 30 seconds or so, and really preserves the shine & look. If that doesn't seem to work for you, then you might try a damp cloth to wipe off fingerprints after playing.

For touch-ups in between full polishing, try a treated cloth like this Jewelry Polishing Cloth by Hagerty

Your local music store may carry the cloth. Often they are treated for silver on one side and plain on the other side (for wiping off after shining). I used that on my silver Sterling for the four or so years I played it, and it worked well.

So it's a little of a PITA, but the procedures I described 1) worked well and 2) required only a little regular effort.

[dwerden]

I forgot to mention in my previous post... Since we're discussing taking care of silver, dust is NOT your friend! Only polish/wipe the horn with a clean cloth. Start with one freshly washed and keep it in a plastic bag between uses. If it gathers dust you'll get micro-scratching on the surface.

By the same token, make sure the horn itself is not dusty before wiping/polishing. If you regularly leave it out on a stand, for example, it will gather dust and that will scratch when you wipe it down.

[Bombardonier]

It looks tiny compared to your hand. Is it too small? What are the playing characteristics like?

[Dylan King]

Musical instruments are meant to manipulate sound-waves. Don't worry too much about how the horn looks.

[MaryAnn]

I've wondered about those since I first saw them....they somewhat resemble the MW rotary bariton (not baritonE) I had. The thing worked well ergonomically for me (opposite size to OP) but I simply could not make the intonation work. And it also had a light sound. I am ecstatically delighted with my Sterling 3+1 euph.
MA