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I have a Kanstul 5490 CC with a rose brass bell. What kind of polish / cleaner should I use to clean/polish the bell. I've used water and a rag, but it basically just smudges.

I came here to ask before I try something too abrasive and rub the finish off

If it is RAW brass, any brass product will; do. PLEASE make sure it has no abrasives, though. If it is lacquered, I use a glass cleaner with no ammonia. The repair guys and horn builders here can give you better information, though.

Thanks! I may not be using the correct terminology, but this is what the tuba looks like. I think it's just the lacquer that has the rose gold look. https://www.kanstul.com/instruments/tub ... d-cc-tuba/" target="_blank

Kanstul made a huge deal about using an alloy identical to that used in the old York tubas. Posts here in the past have said that this alloy is closer to a variety of bronze, which accounts for the reddish color. Since the horn is lacquered, just use any kind of non-abrasive or corrosive lacquer polish.

Thanks so much!

If it's lacquered... I've always used Windex or lemon pledge

You can use water with a tiny bit of dish soap, and a rag. It's basically like cleaning windows. Just avoid any type of harsh cleaning solvents and you'll be fine.

How does the tuba play? There aren't any of those out there.

tbonesullivan wrote: How does the tuba play? There aren't any of those out there.

It is a fine tuba. It plays like a big piston York style tuba. The pistons are very short action, which means the pass-throughs on the valves are a bit small and leads to a bit of stuffiness with multiple valves down. Mostly in the low register. The 5th valve/rotor is huge.

Compared to a Thor that a buddy of mine had, this tuba's tone is much much more mellow and velvety.

How is the intonation? I considered one of these, once... But the intonation was just all over the place. I've heard that the very best of these was a very nice tuba... And that the worst was not very good... And that they made so few, they never had a chance to iron things out and get them consistently good. It's a similar tuba to the PT-6P, but without the 30(?) years of R&D, countless iterations, and actual production of x,xxx(?) actual tubas.

Sounds like you must have a good one that works well for you!

Intonation on my horn is pretty average. Most of the issues I have are because of my own lackluster aural skills. Takes some slide pulling regardless, due to the large size. Funny thing is, I've considered offering it as a trade for a similar or slightly smaller tuba with rotary valves. Only issue is that it would be my third tuba in three years and I would feel like I haven't given myself enough time on it to give it its due.

JStubaJMU wrote:Intonation on my horn is pretty average. Most of the issues I have are because of my own lackluster aural skills. Takes some slide pulling regardless, due to the large size. Funny thing is, I've considered offering it as a trade for a similar or slightly smaller tuba with rotary valves. Only issue is that it would be my third tuba in three years and I would feel like I haven't given myself enough time on it to give it its due.

No shame in that, do what you gotta do.

I'm about to take delivery of tuba #5 in 18 months. If something doesn't work, it doesn't work... (Or if something else seems like it would be better). And it doesn't take years to figure that out.

Or as I like to say, almost nobody decides to get married for life after a first date. That's just to decide if you want more dates. Not does it take years of dating to decide if you want to get married.

róża mosiądz perhaps?