Saxophones Cons of unlacquered sax

[saxyjt]

Here's my Amati, its 60 years old but was only stripped about seven years ago. It's never been cleaned other than a quick dust every now and then.

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Beautiful. I hope I'll achieve a similar result, but I keep finding spots of lacquer or oxydation or different levels of brushing... It feels like a never-ending thing. But I'm not yet ready to stop!

I found an old piece of polishing cloth that works well, except it ruined my new pair of Jeans! 😵

Ok, I should not polish with a new pair of jeans... I do it whenever I find a few minutes near the horn, so s#&% happens!

I considered trying to age the result artificially, but I think I'll leave it alone. I couldn't find any convincing method to obtain what I have in mind. I'll just apply some auto wax I have to protect it. We'll see how it goes...

 

[jbtsax]

When you change the finish on a saxophone it is never finished. 🙂 You just have to decide when to quit.

 

[Taz]

First I stripped all the key work as I wanted to keep that in the silver finish, then I painted Nitromors general paint and varnish stripper (green tin) all over the sax and popped it into a dustbin bag to keep the fumes to a minimum and also to help concentrate the effects of the stripper (no scientific evidence that this actually helps) I left it overnight and then washed it using a stiff brush sh to help remove the lacquer. Any stubborn bits got a second dose. Once the lacquer was off, then came the hard bit. I used “”Finishing Scotch Pads” these are used in the car body repair industry to get the final finish on paint before it’s polished. I found the “Grey” (Finest grade) to be perfect for removing any last stubborn areas of paint, I then gave it a good clean with a household furniture polish and rebuilt it. It has NEVER had any further products applied. The only thing I do, is to give her an occasional dusting.
i didn’t strip her because I thought it would alter the sound because it hasn’t. I stripped her because she looked a mess, lots of scratches and missing lacquer. Removing, cleaning, oiling and replacing the key work has made her very playable though!
I have to add, I was VERY tempted to give her a mat lacquer coat to preserve the brushed bare brass finish. I have another sax in bits (as it has been for about 10 years, that I'm quite tempted to do this to! If I ever get it finished Ill post some more pictures...... just don't hold your breath!

 

[Taz]

Before

 

[Taz]

After

 

[Halfers]

That looks really good @Taz I'm not in general a fan of the un-lacquered look, but I think the Silver Keywork adds an extra dimension.

 

[Jules]

The major con of my Signature Custom Tenor (my main gigging sax) is folks asking- “Your sax looks great- is it really old?”. At which point I respond “Er- no it’s a modern one, it just has a finish that makes it look really old”… “Oh..” .I always feel a bit of a fraud at that point!

 

[Colin the Bear]

The older you get the newer old things seem. 1980 is 40 years ago. I would think the Amati/Corton tenor is about that. Innit?

 

[Taz]

The older you get the newer old things seem. 1980 is 40 years ago. I would think the Amati/Corton tenor is about that. Innit?

It was made in 1960 so shes got some age to her. One day Ill get my Dearman finished and she's 100 this year!

 

[Howsey]

Nice looking finish Taz. I've just bought same sax at an auction. It looks like your before pic's, so I'll be trying your finish out on it when I get it. Are the finishing scotch pads used dry or wet. Never heard of them before?

 

[Howsey]

just looked, at pads...of course I know what they are. For some reason I thought it was something totally different. Ordering some now.

 

[Taz]

just looked, at pads...of course I know what they are. For some reason I thought it was something totally different. Ordering some now.

I used mine dry

 

[sigleyy]

Times are different yet attitudes about some things may still linger. When you had touring big bands the leader wanted his front line of saxes to look good, which meant that if someone had a rough looking sax they would get "the word". This resulted in lots of re-lacquers. As many of the "vintage saxes" have aged it's now seen as a badge of pride to have a naturally (or unnaturally) de-lacquered vintage horn. Many manufacturers are catering to this by providing un-lacquered and artificially "aged looking" horns. But there's still plenty of shiny/fancy looking horns both expensive and cheap that are sold. It's a matter of image and fashion. I frankly don't care since I seldom play in public anymore and didn't much care even then. It's about the ease of playing and tone. I can't say for sure whether the bronze and silver R&C tenor I mostly play would sound much different if it was lacquered, but can say with certainly that I love the sound and don't do a lot to try and keep it shiny. Maintenance (for me) is just the usual of swabbing and maintaining the pads.

I tried an unlacquered sax yesterday and was impressed with the sound and just as important, the feel of it. I’m only starting out again after not playing for 30 years, and I feel drawn to this Eastman 52nd st alto . As for higher maintenance on unlacquered, I see it as a bonding experience with the instrument.