| Re: Modifying the Modified Bach Strad
Congratulations on finding a fine horn!
As far as the outside of the trumpet goes, a soft polishing cloth should be enough to keep it looking nice, but rather than shining the horn I would advise playing it, and keeping the inside of the horn immacualte. The wear marks on the outside will become your signature, your personal badge of honor.
There is a mindset that decrees that a perfect looking trumpet is the mark or a fine player, but almost all pros don't care how a trumpet looks, but they do care how it plays.
If you spend your time pondering how the horn sounds rather than how it looks, you'll be fine--any add-ons should be functional rather than cosmetic. It is far better to be a fine player of an average horn than an average player of a great horn.
You are the instrument, the horn is but a tool. It sounds as if you have gotten a fine tool; now amaze us with what you can do with it.
Don't worry--the community of trumpeters are extremely patient, and we do salute a job well done.
Play.
__________________ "A tool good enough to be so used and not too good" C.S. Lewis That Hideous Strength www.letsbuildhope.org |