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What would be a ballpark figure for taking a 4/4 or 5/4 horn in raw brass and lacquering or having it plated in silver? Assume for arguments sake that the horn needs no other work, just prep and procedure costs.

I have no experience with this and my advice should be taken with a grain of salt. In a for sale ad selling a Besson 995, the company F H Lambert (A plater in Britain) was offering the horns For Raw brass at 3000 GBP and Silver Plated at 4000 GBP.

While not exactly scientific, one can assume that they would charge 1000 GBP to plate a 995 silver. That's approximately $1600 USD.

If you want a better answer, email these guys.

http://www.andersonsilverplating.com/ba ... ument.html" target="_blank

It's a bit more than that at Lamberts:

http://www.fhlambert.com/industries/pdf ... celist.pdf" target="_blank

PaulTkachenko wrote:It's a bit more than that at Lamberts:

http://www.fhlambert.com/industries/pdf ... celist.pdf" target="_blank" target="_blank

Notice in the 'grand scheme' of things.... apparently the labor and materials to just apply the lacquer or silver is only about 10% of the total cost.

The BIG MONEY is in the preparation. Any autobody shop can squirt on clear-coat. And any plater worth his salt can 'dunk' the horn through a couple of tanks. (I'm not trying to minimize the skill involved in the final coatings... just pointing out that the bulk of the cost is in dent removal and polishing.)

Also... let it be known that just the removal of even small scratches can mean half of the brass thickness in that spot may be gone. A nice new finish is pretty but you may be paying a price well beyond just the cost of the work. Some shops can heavy copper plate to fill scratches but I expect that would add even more cost to the prep work.

In a lot of cases, it's really not worth it. The other part of this is that if you totally love everything about how the tuba plays right now, you should question if it will play as well once it's been disassembled, buffed, plated, and put back together. It might play better, it might play the same, or it might play worse. No way to know before doing it.

Personally, I find it too risky. You could always just polish/clean the raw brass? Or what about just getting the bell re-plated? That's all the audience really sees anyway, and it's far less surgery for the tuba.

bort wrote:In a lot of cases, it's really not worth it.....Or what about just getting the bell re-plated? That's all the audience really sees anyway, and it's far less surgery for the tuba.

+ many!

TubaTinker wrote: The BIG MONEY is in the preparation. Any autobody shop can squirt on clear-coat. And any plater worth his salt can 'dunk' the horn through a couple of tanks. (I'm not trying to minimize the skill involved in the final coatings... just pointing out that the bulk of the cost is in dent removal and polishing.)
.

So if there were no dents to remove what is the prep work? Polishing and then the plating or lacquering process? Not trying to come across as a smart ***, I literally know nothing about the process.

bort wrote:In a lot of cases, it's really not worth it. The other part of this is that if you totally love everything about how the tuba plays right now, you should question if it will play as well once it's been disassembled, buffed, plated, and put back together. It might play better, it might play the same, or it might play worse. No way to know before doing it.

Personally, I find it too risky. You could always just polish/clean the raw brass? Or what about just getting the bell re-plated? That's all the audience really sees anyway, and it's far less surgery for the tuba.

Doesn't the raw brass tarnish and turn your skin green wherever it touches? I have never played a raw brass instrument so I have no experience.

Tubaman2365 wrote:.... Doesn't the raw brass tarnish and turn your skin green wherever it touches? ...

The short answer is 'NO'. Also... raw brass does not smell bad.

Tubaman2365 wrote:

bort wrote:In a lot of cases, it's really not worth it. The other part of this is that if you totally love everything about how the tuba plays right now, you should question if it will play as well once it's been disassembled, buffed, plated, and put back together. It might play better, it might play the same, or it might play worse. No way to know before doing it.

Personally, I find it too risky. You could always just polish/clean the raw brass? Or what about just getting the bell re-plated? That's all the audience really sees anyway, and it's far less surgery for the tuba.

Doesn't the raw brass tarnish and turn your skin green wherever it touches? I have never played a raw brass instrument so I have no experience.

If you have very acidic sweat, it will turn your skin green after prolonged periods.* However, there are several different kinds of leather covers that you can put on the horn to prevent direct contact between your skin and the brass.

*I had a trombone that would leave a green mark on my neck. I just covered it with a tensor band because that was all I had and the tensor band was barely non noticeable from afar.

Tubaman2365 wrote:

TubaTinker wrote: The BIG MONEY is in the preparation. .. .

So if there were no dents to remove what is the prep work? Polishing and then the plating or lacquering process? Not trying to come across as a smart ***, I literally know nothing about the process.

I don't regard your comments as out of like. Questions like this are good.

That's basically why all of the prices for overhauls that include relacuering and replating appear to be 'sky-high'. It's virtually impossible to 'guess' what level of prep work is required or what level of finish is expected. Folks who quote this sort of work always end up 'eating some of their' costs or making a little extra. It all comes out in the wash, as they say.

I won't even give exact costs to remove a simple dent unless I actually see the project. And then it's sometimes 'iffy'.

Most of my personal horns are raw brass. Actually... I'm sort of living for the day when I can justify stripping my 1291 5V! It has a few dings in it now and if/when the day comes when I decide to overhaul the valves... it WILL end up raw brass. There is no way I would 'go nuts' and try to remove every tiny scratch!

TubaTinker wrote:

Tubaman2365 wrote:.... Doesn't the raw brass tarnish and turn your skin green wherever it touches? ...

The short answer is 'NO'. Also... raw brass does not smell bad.

Huh? Raw brass does indeed tarnish (much moreso than silver) and it does stink. I have two mostly raw brass tubas and try to keep them clean. But they do tarnish like crazy (they turn a dull green-brown at contact points after a couple weeks) and they leave that metal/brass smell on my hands. I always try to wash my hands after putting the horn away.

I still think raw brass is overall 'ugly', but if the deep tarnish/patina is consistent, it kinda looks cool; like this old tuba:

http://www.horn-u-copia.net/picture.php ... -tuba2.jpg

tooba wrote:

TubaTinker wrote:

Tubaman2365 wrote:.... Doesn't the raw brass tarnish and turn your skin green wherever it touches? ...

The short answer is 'NO'. Also... raw brass does not smell bad.

Huh? Raw brass does indeed tarnish (much moreso than silver) and it does stink. I have two mostly raw brass tubas and try to keep them clean. But they do tarnish like crazy (they turn a dull green-brown at contact points after a couple weeks) and they leave that metal/brass smell on my hands. I always try to wash my hands after putting the horn away.

Raw brass does tarnish, but it won't necessarily turn your skin green (or smell bad): those are largely a matter of a player's body chemistry.