Klarinet Archive - Posting 000539.txt from 2003/07

From: "fred.sheim" <fred.sheim@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] anyone interested in saxophone
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 19:14:34 -0400

Yes, mine has ALL its ORIGINAL lacquer and it is becoming darker and more
beautiful looking too! The reason for this is that I never play it!!!! I
bought it back in '77 to use in the school musicals, but I quickly realized
I didn't want it to get beat up, so I used a school horn, and still
do!!!!! My Mark VI has lived nearly all of its life in the
closet!!!! But its fun to look at.

Fred

At 7/18/2003 07:03 PM Friday, you wrote:
>At 09:03 AM 7/18/2003 -0400, you wrote:
>>I own a Mark VI which I bought in 1977 new (and RARELY use). The lacquer
>>on mine is shiny as a mirror. My first impression of the Ebay horn is
>>that most of the lacquer is gone- it does not look good to me, even dull-
>>am I missing something?
>>
>>Fred
>
>Vintage sax lovers get all freaky about original lacquer. 20% original
>lacquer remaining seems to be preferable to a shiny fresh relacquer. The
>problem is in the buffing needed to prep the horn for relacquering. They
>feel that, since some metal is inevitably removed by this process, the
>sound of the horn is irrevocably changed. Of course, the possibility
>exists that it COULD be changed for the BETTER, but since there is no way
>of knowing beforehand, one must assume the worst. I had my own Mark VI
>overhauled and relacquered when I got it. In retrospect, I probably
>should not have, since I likely lowered its potential resale value and it
>was not all THAT bad to begin with, but it sounds fine to me now and looks
>better (although I have aged it a bit again through my own use). Some
>players even deliberately REMOVE all the lacquer from their saxes,
>believing that this somehow "frees up" the sound. I personally think they
>have been sniffing too much lacquer thinner. It sounds to me like
>stripping the oil from the grenadilla wood of your clarinet to make it
>vibrate better without the oil "dampening" it. In either case, you are
>better off with the preservative finish ON the instrument!
>
>One might also consider the question of WHY your lacquer finish is so nice
>and shiny by comparison. The worn finish of the eBay sax might suggest a
>well-loved and professionally played horn of the highest quality with lots
>of gig time. Yours, a very late model besides, has NOT received so much
>use, since it spent its life as a doubling instrument. Lacquer finishes
>are not permanent, and are subject to considerable wear and tear from
>chair bumps, belt buckles, sweat, etc. The less exposure, the less wear.
>
>
>Bill Hausmann
>
>If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!
>
>
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