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Hi all, my student instrument was lacquer and pretty worn, I didn't notice any change in the finish while I used it. When I was blessed with the chance to acquire my own instrument I couldn't find any advice anywhere about the pros and cons of silver vs lacquer, and the various suppliers I asked were all vague and useless on the subject. So I naively bought a silver tuba.
It turns out I have acid sweat, this is progressively stripping the silver and is now etching into the brass; where I hold the instrument it's rough to the touch and looks terrible, I'm at my wits' end. I bought a French Horn neoprene sleeve which fits around the tube where I hold it with my right hand but the valve tubing across the front is losing silver like crazy, I have deep fingermarks near my fourth valve and my second valve tuning slide is bare brass. Anyone got any suggestions or shared experience please?
Thanks!

Oh dang! Do you wipe down the contact points after every time you use it? Usually the best thing to do would be to have the areas where you contact the horn spot lacquered after the acid is neutralized.

Wear gloves?

Sprog wrote:Hi all, my student instrument was lacquer and pretty worn, I didn't notice any change in the finish while I used it. When I was blessed with the chance to acquire my own instrument I couldn't find any advice anywhere about the pros and cons of silver vs lacquer, and the various suppliers I asked were all vague and useless on the subject. So I naively bought a silver tuba.
It turns out I have acid sweat, this is progressively stripping the silver and is now etching into the brass; where I hold the instrument it's rough to the touch and looks terrible, I'm at my wits' end. I bought a French Horn neoprene sleeve which fits around the tube where I hold it with my right hand but the valve tubing across the front is losing silver like crazy, I have deep fingermarks near my fourth valve and my second valve tuning slide is bare brass. Anyone got any suggestions or shared experience please?
Thanks!

Wash your hands before you play and wipe it down afterwards and this should keep the horn looking nice for a long.