Re: Re: Re: Is BRASSO ok for Sousaphones?


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Posted by joseph on July 16, 2000 at 00:45:42:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Is BRASSO ok for Sousaphones? posted by Kevin Eckelkamp on July 15, 2000 at 23:23:05:

Heh.. I hope I didn't come off as patronizing in the opening to that last post. Believe it or not that was an attempt at humor.. it is often times even more sad and pathetic in person. ;b

You are more than welcome to polish your horn as much as you like. I guess I'm just one of the few guys that honestly doesn't give a rat's a** about appearances. It is much more a philosophical issue for me than an issue of which polish is least disruptive. I'm much more interested in end product and in my mind they all have the same end result: strip away a natural protection that if left alone will last the life of the horn without any special effort on my part and looks quite nice in its own right in pursuit of a temporary superficial concept of beauty that, atleast in theory, could reduce the life of my horn and due to its transitory nature will take consistant effort to maintain and take time away from other priorities that I consider more important.

Admitedly, there probably isn't all *that* much danger to your horn by polishing it on a regular basis. I'm no expert on that topic. Also, it would be difficult for me to argue that appearances aren't important. Ask anyone in the military. Our whole reality is built upon our perceptions and if having a shiny instrument makes you feel good then perhaps that is a worthwhile investment of your time.

I, for one, don't like polishing at all and have no problem at all thinking of plenty of reasons why I shouldn't. I certainly would never even consider replating an instrument just for pretty to the tune of a couple thousand dollars.

Regarding the Silvo.. I wouldn't have a clue. The only thing I can say with some degree of confidence is that as a general rule brass polish compounds tend to be more abrasive and chemically active than any silver polish. From a chemical standpoint it doesn't take all that much effort to pull silver plating away so it would probably be a good idea to keep the brasso away from the silver as best as you can and to wipe it off like you did as quickly as possible.

Whatever tickles your fancy is fine by me :)

cheers,
joseph 'tuba philosopher king' felton- author Tao te Tuba and In Search of Tuba Nature


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