Posted by Lew on November 19, 2002 at 19:18:50:
In Reply to: Finishes posted by Collin on November 19, 2002 at 18:38:09:
There is a study occassionally referenced, that I believe was done by Schilke, on the impact of lacquer vs. silver plate vs. raw brass on the sound of a trumpet. Check the archives. I seem to remember the conclusion that for trumpets, lacquer tended to deaden the sound vs. raw brass while silver plate and raw brass were very similar. That doesn't mean that the effect can be extrapolated to tubas. Unless you took a single tuba and tested it in raw brass, then lacquer, and then stripped the lacquer and silver plated it, sample variations between different tubas, even of the same model, would probably have more impact than the finish. Even doing this type of test on the same horn wouldn't be unbiased because the act of refinishing can change the playing characteristics of the horn.