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"Question for item #..."

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 2:07 pm
by Mike Finn
OK, so I've got my Olds Baritone listed right now, and in the description I mentioned that the bare brass can develop a "lovely patina" which looks nice and can even protect the instrument. Here's what one helpful eBayer wrote me:
As to the patine statement, yeah it protects the brass, untill someomes acidic hads start pitting it, ot it give someone brass poisoning. Why do you think most companies wont sell raw brass horns?
Thanks
Conner
And here's what I'm dying to write back, and post on the site for all to see, but I'm afraid I'll come off as a smart a$$ (who, me?) and scare off any other possible bidders:
Hi, thanks for your interest in my auction. You are right about the possibility of pitting when sweaty hands come in contact with bare brass. However, I know of many professional musicians who have actually paid a lot of money to have the lacquer removed from their instruments, preferring raw brass, and claiming that it sounds better, or looks better, or even feels better. As far as "Brass Poisoning" I have never been able to discover a scientifically or medically substantiated case of actual poisoning from a musical instrument, although some people may have an allergic reaction to bare brass (which is an alloy) or one of the metals of which various types of brass are composed. Free-machining brass in particular contains a small amount of lead, to make the milling and lathing process easier, although if you were to perform calculations on the time it takes the lead to diffuse, you would have difficulty detecting anything in less than a geological time period. (And brass instruments, if I understand corectly, are made of sheet brass, not cut from a "blank" on a lathe or mill.) Playing a bare brass horn for a few hours at a time may cause the hyper-sensitive to develop a rash at contact points, or at the very least a greenish tint to hands and clothing and a funky smell, but I would not be concerned with serious health problems unles you somehow manage to ingest a significant portion of this instrument.
What's a guy to do?
I'll probably just write back and agree with him, and tell him that I prefer lacquered instruments, and not post it on the site. Oh well...
:roll:
MF
http://cgi.ebay.com:80/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... B:AAQ:US:1

Re: "Question for item #..."

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:28 pm
by windshieldbug
Why do you think most companies wont sell raw brass horns?
Because for the people who like shiney horns, it saves a LOT of work...

(although I'm among the raw brass contingent)
Mike Finn wrote:What's a guy to do?
Nothing, because you being honest in this case doesn't mean disagree with a potential customer, or possibly turning others off... :shock: :D

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:46 pm
by Dan Schultz
Heck, Mike... the player will only get poisoned by the raw brass parts. Some of your horn is nickel and some of it is silver-plated! :shock: :wink:

Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 10:40 pm
by trseaman
bloke wrote:
MF should have wrote:Conner,
You're a kooky jack-*** with too much time on your hands. NEVER contact me again and try to NEVER again click on any of my auctions.

Very sincerely,

Mike

:D
:lol: :lol: :lol:

Everyone is an expert... He doesn't have to bid and you can block his bid if he does! Don't waste your time responding to petty questions or comments... After looking at the auction and the other questions it look like you might be sending it to Europe anyways!!!

The horn looks great! Goodluck, Tim :D