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Hello all. I have a Meinl Weston 2145 with pretty spotty lacquer (probably around 75% coverage) and I'm thinking of stripping it down. Any tips for doing this efficiently and safely? Any big reasons not to? I have a raw brass trombone already, I love the look and the smell never bothered me. Thanks in advance!

I have a couple raw brass horns, and I use clear fingernail polish (lacquer) on the parts my hand is constantly in contact with to avoid "green hand." Personally, I like the patina look, but I've never gone out of my way to get it.

Good reads! Should have searched the main forum too. I wonder how necessary it is to use hot water? I was planning on doing it outside and don't have a connection for that.

Hot water makes it much easier.

Buy a rubber* garden hose and connect it to your hot water heater. There's a valve on the bottom that would be used.

Proceed with care as you'll no control over the temperature (ie. not cold water to mix in with) And the water will most likely be around 150 F. (140 is minimum here, 160 upper end)

*Rubber, not vinyl.

I did this to my early 1990s 2145. It had the baked-on lacquer that i had to use a lacquer stripper to take it off. Nasty stuff. If you have to use the stripper, make sure you're in a well ventilated room and wear proper gloves.

Frank

Alright, I'm finally moving forwards on this. My last question will be, is there any way to do this without scratching the brass up? Both threads linked here ended with a satin finish, which looks great but I'd like to avoid it if I can. If I just blast the stripper off with hot water, will it get everything off? I'd like to polish the whole horn after I strip it. Thanks again guys!

Thanks for the advice! We've got a high of 82 tomorrow so I think that'll be perfect. I'll probably do a full disassembly to make sure no moving parts are affected.
And yup- no high hopes about sound or response here. I just think that "all dark and rustic" beats "crappy shiny parts with crappy brown parts". Sure, "all shiny" would be fine, but I don't think I could get it either 1. polished up nor 2. lacquered up to a point I would be happy with. And having it professionally done is a little out of the budget right now