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When I was admiring the amazing job Daniel Oberloh did on the Martin he restored (see http://www.oberloh.com/martintuba/martintuba.htm), I was really fascinated by the picture of the tuba before it was silver plated. It is in its natural brass state, but with a satin finish.



I almost like the look of this better than after it has been silver plated. It has such a warm look, and the contrast on the emblem seems to stand out more than in silver. It is really beautiful.

My question is this: I have never seen a tuba finished like this before. Would it look as good if the raw brass tarnished, or would the effect work under a coat of lacquer? There must be some problems with making this work, or I am sure I would see it more often in new tubas. I would buy a tuba this beautiful right away!

As I understand it the horn is cleaned up, blasted, polished, and lacquered.

I'm not a big fan of satin brass...to me it looks like someone spray painted the tuba gold, and for the record, I'm not a big satin silver fan either.

I have seen modern instruments with a sort of brush/sating lacquer finish. I think most look okay in the beginning but after they are used for a year of so they look pretty shabby. If you want the same effect try gold plat, nice look but god-awful-expensive!

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works

that is a cool look. I have seen the nes King 2341 in the satin brass. I always thought the bead blasting was done after the silver plating was applied not before.

ken k

Actually, the possibilities for original finishes on a tuba are numerous. How about an engine-turned finish?:



Or maybe a "jitterbug" finish:

PhilW. wrote: I would say that there is quite a difference between satin lacquer and gold plating.

Sorry, I was not clear in my post, I was pointing out an opption to satin lacquer finishes that don't hold up and look kind of cheap, that being a satin gold plate. It can be a very nice finish if done correctly. Satin is satin regardless of whether it is silver plate, gold plate or even lacquer for that matter. It is the conditioning of the substraight or base metal that makes it satin.

PhilW. wrote:By the way, how much would it be to gold plate just a 4/4 CC? I realize that the gold prices fluctuate, but I have never heard an estimate.

As for the cost to gold plate a tuba, I could not say for sure as I am not sure if there is a gold plating tank available to plate an object of the size of a tuba. Guess? plating cost range would be $3500 to $5400 with a silver preliminary plate and copper strike. This would not include repairs, dent work, soldering, polishing, masking, bead blasting, valve rebuilds or shipping. Nope, just the plating. The amount of gold at market price would be less then four ounces so the market has little impact on the cost of the job. Its mostly labor and overhead expenses. You could get it done back in the twenties by special order but today it would require an act of devine intervention to get it done. May be I will have a talk with Terry at Anderson Silver Plating this coming week and see what I can come up with?


Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works

At those prices I guess I won't be having my gold plated Conn baritone replated any time soon. It has a satin gold plate (where it's not worn away), with bright gold trim and engraving. It is a great looking finish.

I did not say it could not be done, it can. It would require a special tank be put together for the job. Yamaha did it for Chuck D. when they produced the instrument for the Canadian Brass. It is doable, it just requires a lot of time and money. The platers I deal with are some of the bigger plating shops in the US and they are not normally set up for this sort of production. Mr. Bobo's 14 lb. F tuba is not a 30 lb. 6/4 BBb. The plating process is a little more demanding. ; )

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works

Doc wrote:Lew,
How about a pic or two?
Doc

OK, here are a couple of quick shots. You can see that there is wear where a brace has been resoldered, but the logo photo shows the contrast in the finish.
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~lchasalow/gold_front.JPG">
<img src="http://home.comcast.net/~lchasalow/gold_logo.JPG">

You want GOLD? No problem: