Protecting a raw brass tuba

[tuba kitchen]

I have taken the lacquer off the bells of 2 of my horns: B&S PT-6 and Melton 2145.

This was years ago and having done nothing for protection, nothing has happened (ok they don't look like just coming out of the showroom)

But - they SOUND SO MUCH BETTER!!!

[Dan Schultz]

....Every few years or so check to make sure there is no red rot...

What is commonly referred to as 'red rot' is not a surface condition but rather a situation that begins on the INSIDE of the horn. Chemistry causes the zinc to precipitate out of the brass leaving behind porous copper. By the time you see it on the outside of the horn, the damage is already done and the only recourse is to either patch or replace the part. I've see certain acidic environments cause raw brass to turn a reddish color but what you refer to as 'red rot' has nothing to do with whether a horn is lacquered or not.

[dwerden]

There are a lot of polishes that will shine brass, but I prefer one that has a tarnish preventative formula. It keeps the brass shiny much longer, so for quite a while after polishing you can just wipe off the horn with a cloth. Here is a sample from Amazon's Tuba-Euphonium Store:

http://tinyurl.com/3xg4kr

I think 3M also makes a similar product, which you might find in a department or discount store. Theirs is called Tarni-Shield for Brass and Copper.

When I was in the military I often used a bare brass belt buckle (because the lacquer would wear off too quickly) and used such a product to polish it. Worked great!

[AndyL]

On a Conn 20J bell I have, what little lacquer remained was in bad condition. Following Dan Schultz' recommendation, I stripped the remaining lacquer ("Aircraft" brand stripper, available at Auto-Zone), and used a polish called SimiChrome (mail order), intending to make the bell at least look "all one color".

The bell took an amazingly bright shine and has stayed that way without further maintenance. I'm guessing the polish must have a tarnish inhibitor as part of it's formula.

[Conn 2J CC]

Hi - My wife and I have an old Tenor Sax I stripped the lacquer off of. It had turned at least 11 different shades of brown, so it looked pretty awful. I had previously treated the raw brass neck with Chroma 1500, an automotive finish cleaner and glaze by Presta Products. In another thread I accidently called it Chroma 5000. This gave the neck a nice polished look that kept it bright looking for several months, so the last time I used Chroma 1500 on the whole horn. I wish I had stopped there though. I went on to treat the whole horn with 3M's Tarni-Shield Copper & Brass Polish that Dave Werden mentioned above. Maybe somebody else has had better luck with this stuff than me, but in my case the horn started to patina in no time. It didn't protect the horn nearly as good as the instruments I've used 3M's Tarni-Shield Silver Polish on. I may have just got a bad, soupy bottle of the Copper and Brass Polish, but it sure didn't give our Tenor the lustrous, long lasting shine the front of the bottle promised. I hope this helps -

[windshieldbug]

I say that as long as you can stand it, just let it patina naturally. I stripped the bell of my Marzan 30 years ago, (just the bell, left the rest of the horn to it's own devices) and as long as you don't mind the result being un-shiney, just let-'er go. If it gets wet for any reason, wipe that part down. If you don't, it will patina unevenly.

I never had any problems with corrosion or odor (and you don't want to offend TROMBONE players! ).

YMMV, but I let it go au natual, without any treatment or complications.

[iiipopes]

Aren't there some threads out there that talk about cleaning and polishing with a light spray of spray wax, like the Pledge brand variety, on a soft cloth?

[Wyvern]

I have been told by an old military player that with raw brass, if you get it wet in the rain, it will mark with green spots which are very difficult to polish off.

This has always made me rather nervous about using my old Haag raw brass Eb outdoors in possibly wet conditions.

Can anyone with such experience say the validity of this concern?

Thanks.

[SplatterTone]

Can anyone with such experience say the validity of this concern?

I've had green appear on my old Conn 14j without getting it in the rain. So I keep some kind of furniture polish on it. No particular brand. Just something.

Sweat can make things green too.