Raw brass or very ugly lacquer?

[bigbob]

RAW BRASS ANY DAY!

I AGREE!! BB

[eupher61]

I dunno. .. The jelly in my navel could probably eat plutonium....

Um...

The only reason I don't like raw brass is my dermal reaction to the metal. It ain't easy being green. But, I've never stripped a horn either. I ve had some touch up lacquer put on but I truly don't care. If it's bare enough to cause a reaction, I put clear Contac paper on it.

[toobagrowl]

Like others have said -- ugly lacquer can be touched up. Raw brass makes my hands smell I do have a raw brass tuba and I'd lacquer/shallac it if I could get an even polish on it. But the patina is just too deep in some areas to make it look decent in lacquer, so I "put up" with the raw brass. Prefer lacquer though -- even "ugly" lacquer.

[bigtubby]

Ugly lacquer = comb-over
Raw brass = shaved head

Do the right thing.

Perfect!


Part of my raw brass brigade:

[bort]

Question -- when a damaged bell is rolled out, do the marks show in the raw brass? Or are bell repair marks visible because of the lacquer damage?

I want my Rudy to be nice and shiny to match the rest of the tuba, but curious what repair marks would show if left in raw brass.

[bort]

Question -- when a damaged bell is rolled out, do the marks show in the raw brass? Or are bell repair marks visible because of the lacquer damage?

The scars are visible on my unlacquered Alex's.

I figured as much, makes sense to me. Thanks!

[nycbone]

**********

[chronolith]

It ain't easy being green.

Weird. I had an old St. Pete years ago that was raw and my wrist turned blue for playing it, rather than green. Agree about the smell also. Unique.

[tofu]

[Jose the tuba player]

.

[dmmorris]

I thought is was age before beauty..............

Raw brass or very ugly lacquer? .....both are nice, but original raw brass is way cooler.

[bort]

Some tubas just look better in raw brass than others. A 6-valve B&S F looks GREAT in raw brass.

[dmmorris]

The horn was originally in raw brass and I have never seen the need to spray-on any kind of coating. I like my tubas old and raw. On the outside, tubas should look like they aren't even playable.

Bloke's correct...the B&S in my earlier post is a contrabass, but in BBb. The extra valve set-up is 5th=long whole step and 6th=long half step. The slides for 1st and 5th are easily accessible from the top-front and the slides for 3rd and 4th are accessible from the back. Lots of interesting combos and no excuses.

[bort]

Revisiting this old topic... How about this question: If the bell is raw brass, then what would you do with the rest of the tuba? Keep or strip?

The bell on my Rudy will be raw brass after it is repaired. The lacquer on the rest of the horn is "okay" (mild flaking when I gave the horn a bath), but lots of scratches and wear. Certainly not getting any better.

What do you think? Strip it all now, or for the stuff that is there anyway, keep it on there? I'm kind of split on it but not sure if half and half would look funny, so sort of leaning to all raw.

Opinions?

[WC8KCY]

Note the healthy glow of my '37 Martin Indiana Eefer in mostly raw brass...wouldn't this look just silly relacquered?

[bort]

The main idea is that I'd either end up with a perfect-looking bell and a tuba body that will show its age, or have a tuba that all around represents its age. (I can't afford, and don't want, a complete overhaul at this point.) It's more of a question of what is/looks better, a raw bell and a natural body, or the entire tuba as raw brass? Appearances for the sake or resale are not important at this point. Thanks!

[vespa50sp]

I'm slowly polishing my old La See down to raw brass...