Posted by Chuck(G) on April 15, 2003 at 02:29:56:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: How to stuff a PT-6 posted by Rick Denney on April 14, 2003 at 15:31:05:
How the heck did I miss reading this thread until just now?
I've stripped lotsa horns, mostly in preparation for taking them apart or servicing.
Physics may be physics, but lacquer isn't lacquer. The oldies used a thin hard coating of nitrocellulose lacquer. It doesn't adhere very well and will crack and craze with time. But it's very thin and very hard, so it won't have much effect on the sound.
Then there's the 2-part epoxy stuff that seems to be the rage now. It's considerably thicker and softer than the old nitrocellulose stuff, but is really tough. And it isn't nearly as explosive or flammable as the old stuff. Then there's King orange lacquer--but I digress...
Myself, I was never able to distinguish much difference between bare brass and lacquer my ears being under the bell and all. The problem with bare brass is that it starts collecting a layer of corrosion fairly quickly so that to keep the unlacquered sound (whatever that is), you'll have to keep a raw brass horn polished.
If one is given to stripping horns for sonic reasons, it MIGHT make sense to remove epoxy and relacquer with nitrocellulose. At least that would retard corrosion without impacting the sound very much.
Some people are fine with handling raw brass and leave mostly oily fingerprints on it. Others, it seems, have really corrosive perspiration and etch the dickens out of the metal. It's kind of sad to see a horn with deep orange-peel etched into the brass. You can lessen the appearance of it with buffing, but it's basically there to stay.