Posted by lesley on February 05, 2002 at 23:52:33:
Hello!
So...my Conn 82J satin silver tuba has been given a bath (the muck that came out of it was unbelievable!!!), and as a finishing touch, I tried to clean it up a bit more with the polishing cloth I use on my oboe, since the finish is fairly blackened, especially where your hands or arms rest on the instrument. The result: a completely filthy cloth, and relatively little clean-up on the horn. Enough of a difference, though, to make me wish that I could clean it up a bit more, but not using an entire polishing cloth for each 2" by 2" patch...
I guess the polishing cloths put out for little oboe keys don't quite do the trick - but what does? any suggestions on polishing up thirty billion feet of silver plumbing? Please also include suggestions on polishing techniques and necessary accessories like rubber gloves, brushes or towels, scotch or vodka, etc etc...
And a second question is:
I have been told that the bell has a gold wash on it. It seems to pick up fingerprints like nothing I have ever seen. Unfortunately, I need to remove the bell to get it up and down the stairs in my house (both so I won't over-balance and fall down the stairs and so it fits without danger - these recording bells are not convenient devices), from it's resting place to where I practice, and that involves a bit of handling the bell, so I've got all these grubby little finger marks on it. How does one clean those up?
by the way, thnks to everyone whe has been helping me along so far, and I am having a rip of a time farting away on my garage sale treasure! My next door neighbor's favorite so far is Moon River for solo tuba.
-Lesley