Tarnish Removal

bobbyz · Sep 2, 2007

Hi, I am a young artist who needs a little help. I just bought a silver plated 1927 King Cleveland that has gold plated keys that looks like it hasn't been out of the house for a while. I know how to take off and put back the mechanisms onto the horn, but I am confused about cleaning it (what to use for cleaning the keys or the horn itself).

Thanks for all the responses and I have another topic: MOUTHPIECES?? ,located in the saxophone section that I need help with also.

Pete Thomas · Sep 2, 2007

Hi Bobby.

I find lighter fluid the best thing for cleaning pads. For a silver horn, I use normal silver polish (Goddards). If it is a frosted finish you'll need a lot of rubbing and make sure you don't get any polish on the pads, screws or rods.

PS it might be better not to have your email address in the post, that way Spammers will get it easily. You can put the email address in your user profile and then choose to hide or show it. Spammers might still get it but its not so obvious.

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Col9 · Sep 2, 2007

I bought a 1927 Boosey & co Imperial tenor trombone last week. It was also a very tarnished stained silver plated finish. I used a polishing cloth that has something impregnated into it. It now looks fantastic.

I had my doubts as its just a dry cloth but it works really really well. I have seen them on Ebay for a couple of quid. Mine came with my Hanson sax Best thing is its not abrasive or or if it is its only a very very small amount.

Col.

bobbyz · Sep 3, 2007

Hey Pete, Thanks for the reply, but I had heard that using a liquid polish is "bad for the saxophone". Is it just because it can get on the pads and springs, or because it can have long term damage?

Pete Thomas · Sep 3, 2007

I would think the only thing that would be bad (apart from getting on the pads and springs) is poishing so much that the metal wears through. I think that would take a very long time. If the horn is shiny silver not frosted, it will require less rubbing and a cloth like the ones you get for poilishing the family silver should be fine. (But my horns are frosted and those aren't really up to the job)

Linky Lee · Sep 3, 2007

I am a flute player, and most flutes are either sterling silver or silver plated.

I used one to shiny up my Martin which was very tarnished and now it looks great, though the sax is still un-playable.

phil_edwards · Sep 3, 2007

Linky_Lee wrote:
I am a flute player, and most flutes are either sterling silver or silver plated.

I used one to shiny up my Martin which was very tarnished and now it looks great, though the sax is still un-playable.

regards, Phil

mfox · Sep 3, 2007

i really really like the tarnished look on metal be is silver or brass.. i would leave it myself..as long as you get all the real muck of it.

philthd · Sep 4, 2007

there are some drummers who ritually polish their cymbals so that they are constantly glistening and shiny, and others who think they only sound good with a bit of weathering and tarnish

to a much lesser extent (and i mean i believe it to be incredibly marginal) the state of the surfaces of your horn can have some effect on the sound.
someone i saw play once had an old silver eastern european tenor of some kind that was filthy looking and sounded great. i saw him another time and he had polished it up and (to my ear) a lot of the character had gone - even though he seemed to have improved as a player in the meantime.

now that may not be the significant factor, but ...