You all did such a great job enlightening me about my old Holton, I decided to subject upon you my old King Liberty. (I still haven't done anything about the Holton, but at least I'm enlightened.)
This is a King Liberty from 1946 that I've had since high school:
It's fairly straight, especially considering that I used it as my "marching horn" in high school ('79 graduate), my nephew used it for four years as his "beginner horn," and my son used it for two years as his "jazz band horn." That means it's been used about nine of the last thirty years.
Prior to me, it sat in somebody's attic from about 1950 to 1976, when I got it as a birthday present.
It's not really very apparent in the pictures, but most of the lacquer has an almost brown tone to it. The lead pipe is noticably lighter than the rest of the horn, and the mouthpiece receiver is "bronzer" (for lack of a better word).
Is this coloring the result of the lacquer aging, or does it have something to do with the brass?
Thanks!
Wayne.