Lacquer is like paint on a car. Unless you drive a Delorean you car has paint. Almost all mass produced brass instruments have lacquer unless they are silver plated. Just like paint you can get different tint's to add to lacquer to make it almost any color you want. The higher end instruments tend to use less tint and less total lacquer then the low end student models. If you want to get lacquer off you have to use a chemical like Zip Strip or Citristrip etc..... On a high end instrument one treatment and lost's of flossing is all it takes on a student horn it will normaly take two treatments becasue they put the stuff on thicker on student horns. Once you get the lacquer off edcon1981 and was all the residue off with hot soapy water then you have bare brass. Now is the time to use MAAS,Flitz, Never Dull, Brasso etc...... to remove the tarnish and shine the brass. Some people use automotive paste to act as a perservative to slow the tarnish down between polishing's. I am going to be sand blasting my son's Holton over Christmas break after I strip it and replace the leadpipe. I have not decided if I am going to relacquer it or leave it bare. I know I will not be useing any tint since I hate the cheap gold color that most trumpet's have when they use dark tint. I have always preffered a metals natural apperance to tinted lacquer or paint! In fact while I like gold plated I hate almost all forms of simulated gold ie paint, tint etc.......

All brass instruments will shine up nicely some have very distinct color depending on what type of brass was used. Yellow,Rose,Red all have slight variations in their huge when polished due to the differing amounts of copper in them!

Awesome explanation! Thanks :). I just bought some Zip Strip at the hardware store today, and I'm ordering some MAAS online. I think I'm going to try to tackle this project Sunday. I'll post before/afters! :)

I heard that sweating will cause 'green hands', so say I delaquer my trumpet, use MAAS, then I sweat, will it cause 'green hands'???

This is a very intersting topic. I think I might try it in the summer!

That is joke right???? Do you have any idea how long it takes for brass or copper to turn green? You are not going to touch it and have green hands. I am assumeing you wash you hands throughout the day?Now if you tied your trumpet around your neck 24/7 and never polished it and did not wash your neck and chest as often as you wash your hands then you would get some staining. Why do you think most early band students and musicians wore white gloves? When I was in band that was still required. back when trumpets where gold plated, silver plated and raw brass before the advent of cheap lacquer coatings this helped to slow down the tarnishing process so you did not have to polish the trumpet as often.

Do you realize that their are manufactures that sell $4000 trumpets that come in raw brass? Now do you think that some idiot is going to pay $4000 for at rumpet that is going to turn his hands green after playing it? Common sense come on!!! What are they teaching you kids in school today??? Ever see brass bells or copper cook ware at home etc.....I doubt you have seen many that are green? Now it is not as idiot proof as lacquer so it is not unlike owning a silver plated instrument inthat you have to polish periodicly!

Well, what I meant was over time, not right as I touch the trumpet. I probably should of been specific and wrote, "over time". Sorry

Cool.