TubeNet

If you're looking for a "show of hands", I'd cast my vote for:

bloke wrote: a more vintage/softer satin finish appearance

Looks GREAT, shines well, much easier to clean than the raw sandblast look, and still hides scuffs and dent repairs.....

I had one of the recent model King 2341s in satin silver. The finish was eye-catching, but it was a pain in the butt in other ways. It was rougher by far than I'd expected, nothing like the vintage finishes that I'd encountered.

The real problem came when I polished it. It was impossible to get the polish out of the pits by rubbing, and it came off black on my hands and clothes for days afterward. Some kind TubeNet advisors led me to polishing it with a good tarnish-retardant, rubbing it down, spraying it with a good cleaner, and hosing it off in the tub. That did a good job of getting most of the tarnish and spent polish out of the pits, and it stayed shiny much longer afterward.

I have a "new" King 2341 in the satin finish and a number of old Conns in the older style satin finish. I really prefer the older version. It's a lot classier looking.

I definately prefer the older, smoother satin silver finish. I also have a King 2341 and using a traditional polish is going to be out of the question when it comes time to clean it. I have cleaned up some heavily tarnished vintage horns and they came up very nice despite thier satin silver finishes.

I have a 1940 King satin-silver that, like me, looks decent considering how beat up it is.
Laquer finish tubers have well defined edges where the finish cracks off but satin silver gradually darkens as the surface transitions into a dented area.
Conclusion: Every tuberist alive should own a horn with a finish like mine and remember, PISTONS RULE!
Top action-not for sissies.
Dennis Gray
tubatooter1940
www.johnreno.com/

bloke wrote:Having seen a few relatively untouched old satin silver instruments, it appears to me as though (at least most of the American) manufacturers color-buffed those instruments after they sandblasted them - but before they plated them. This gave the satin (sand-blast) finish a much softer appearance (and feel).

Is it possible that they use a different blasting medium to get the softer look? I've complained before that the modern satin silver instruments look nothing like the old American and British satin instruments. The old ones look satin--the new ones look matte. In looking at an old Besson with a satin finish versus a new King, I thought the older one was blasted with much finer media. Have you experimented with different media? I would like a chance to look at both with a strong magnifier.

I very much prefer the older satin look.

Rick "who thinks the new style looks okay in pictures but not up close" Denney