Relacquer a trumpet!!?

ok so i have this vintage trumpet. It's raw brass and it hass no finish. It's a pain in the *** to keep clean so i want to relacquer it. I dont have 400 dollars to spend or else i would have it done professionaly. Any ideas or steps to take to get this going.

Relacquer a trumpet!!?
An unlacquered trumpet is very hard to keep clean. Because it is raw brass that does not have a protective coating (ie. lacquer, silver plating, etc.), it forms patina all over. Patina is generally a green coating that forms when raw metals are exposed to oxygen (the statue of Liberty is copper yet it is GREEN! That is patina). The only way to keep it clean is working your *** off to keep it clean, or having it not exposed to oxygen...which brings us to the topic of putting on lacquer yourself.





Sometimes lacquer is put on a horn by running an electrical current through special chemicals to adhere the plating to the brass. Other times (as shown in this video http://www.edwards-instruments.com/resou... it is put on by a spray gun but only after other prepping chemicals are used) Lacquer is also called nitrocellulose and is used in smokeless gun powder among other things. Producing the right type of consistantcy would be difficult and most likely very dangerous do, do to the instability of the chemical. If you really want to have it done well, you should have it done professionally. If you can figure out the right consistancy, you could do it yourself, but you have to be very cautious. If you get any lacquer in the slides or in the valve casings, things might not fit together and you will potentially ruin the horn which will make your $400 lacquering job seem cheap.





As far as the sound, the sound you will get out of a non lacquered horn is not better or worse, but different. When you strip a horn of its' lacquer you will strip it of some of its' resonance. When its just raw brass, the horn will not vibrate the same way. When it is plated or lacquered, the metal reacts differently to the vibrations. You might like it more or you might not.





My suggestion would be to either have it done professionally..Or sell your horn (some people are really into the raw brass look). If you sell it, you might be able to have enough money to purchase a horn that is already plated or lacquered.





I hope this has at least helped a little.
Reply:I play french horn and have heard that the tone on unlacquered instruments is actually better, i understand that it probably is a pain to clean but just a thought

azalea