trumpettrax

Ed,

I was just curious as to your thoughts on changing a trumpet from how it was originally made. I have a silver Bach that the silver is wearing off. I love the look of the gold plating, but wondered if it really mattered THAT much or not. I know it is supposed to change the sound, but is it a drastic change or mostly a personal thing with the sound. Also, the trumpet, like I stated earlier, was originally silver. Should it be kept silver? Does changing the plating change the way the horn plays?

Thanks,


Trax

ecarroll

Trax,

Beats me. . . I'm not into these things in spite of my father working in the Schilke shop during the late 60's and 70's.

I can give you Bob Malone's e-mail address if you'd like to ask him. . .

Opinions, TMers?

Best,
EC

Veldkamp

Silver plating makes a raw brass horn a bit brighter. Gold plating and raw brass sound the same.

But when they replate a horn they often unsolder the bell to polish it properly. Due to the soldering you could get a slight change to the sound/playing if it's not done right. Becuase the braces could be a bit replaced, etc. But with a good repairman there should not be any problems.

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rowuk

There are many things during a general overhaul that can change the playing qualities of your horn. Silver plating alone like Erik said seems to make the horn brighter. After plating, most good techs tighten up the slides, generally a good thing. Unsoldering the bell, lead pipe or other parts can change the tension/temper of the metal. Bach leadpipes rot through more quickly than some other pro horns, so possibly the leadpipe or tuning slide bow could need replacing.
The horn could even get better if the right technician (like Bob Malone in the states or René Spada here in Europe for instance) worked on it.

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