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Hello all. A young tuba friend of mine purchsed a St. Pete ( unknow model ) tuba with the silver finish. It it barley 5 months old and the finish is starting to turn black where he touches it most often. I can assure you he wipes it down after every use and keeps it clean. Is the finish defective and should the dad go back to the music store where he bought it and ask for a replacement ?

Thank you ,
Tommy Y.

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe that St. Pete's are either Laquer or Nickel finish. I dont think that they offer a silver finish.

yeah those things are nickel plated. And they are HARD to keep clean. My school owns 4 of them and all of them are "black". But try some MAAS metal polish. that will make it look brand new. Also it has some sort of protectant coating which makes the shine last a longer time. I used it and had great results. order it online, i haven't seen it in stores.

Automotive chrome polish should clean up the nickel plating. It's pretty tough stuff. You aren't going to rub it off!

TubaTinker wrote:Automotive chrome polish should clean up the nickel plating. It's pretty tough stuff. You aren't going to rub it off!

You might want to try "Blue Away" Motorcycle Exhaust Pipe Polish, on line and at the auction site. It's about USD $20 for 2.5 oz.

"Cure the Chrome Plated Header Blues - Blue Away, long time favorite of the motorcycle industry, removes discoloration from chrome and stainless steel exhaust pipes. 2.5 ounce bottle goes a long way. Just apply a little to a clean soft cloth and buff away discoloration. Imported from Germany."

Mine never turned black..........maybe a quick wipe or two would suffice? hahaha


Anyone seen or played a black lacquered horn? I kinda wanna get one someday...just for fun. Like a little 3 valve Eb horn, in black lacquer with gold trim...yeah...pimp my tuba...

I used to have one of these tubas. After polishing, I would apply car wax to the horn. This slows (not prevents) the tarnishing. You will still have to polish every now and then, but not as often.

pierso20 wrote:Anyone seen or played a black lacquered horn? I kinda wanna get one someday...just for fun. Like a little 3 valve Eb horn, in black lacquer with gold trim...yeah...pimp my tuba...

you can always go for the black nickel plate look:

I have a retrofit St Pete upright bell on my detachable bell 186. It is nickel plated. It turns black under my fingerprints and I have to be careful about not touching it and keeping it properly polished. But it does look great; and with the wide throat-to-rim ratio on the same 16 1/2 inch rim diameter, I like the tone better than either the old style or new style Miraphone bell. It starts leaning towards Alex territory. Even though I have the original recording bell, since I got the 38K I haven't bothered to get the extra bell tenon to get it back up and running.

The only actual St Pete I have played was a few years ago. It was stuffy and bland. But I understand it has been "improved."