I sell quite a few silver plated instruments.

[York-aholic]

Getzen tubas, when silver-plated, were at best placed in the vicinity of a plating tank or held above some sort of steam bath that might have contained silver.

It really is amazing how fast those G-50s wore through their silver plate.

A bit like Dodge had a period of time where the paint on their vehicles' roofs seemed to wear off at the first exposure to sunlight.

[bloke]

Getzen tubas, when silver-plated, were at best placed in the vicinity of a plating tank or held above some sort of steam bath that might have contained silver.

It really is amazing how fast those G-50s wore through their silver plate.

A bit like Dodge had a period of time where the paint on their vehicles' roofs seemed to wear off at the first exposure to sunlight.

Something funny (and I don't know if you're going to believe it but)...
I was getting ready to post on Facebook that "Working on a 1970s Holton trombone - which was played by 18-year-olds - is a whole lot like working on a 1970s Dodge - which was driven by 18-year-olds".

[York-aholic]

Like/Thank/

[PlayTheTuba]

In theory, seeing as metal plating bonds with the underlying metal it would allow an object to have more resonance, or have less of a difference than a non-plated instrument would normally have. But we also take the time to put braces at certain locations to dampen less desirable noise outside of structural reasons.

Perhaps, we should get a company to make us instruments in the same material or molecular structure. It would be very expensive (not it), but having a tuba made out of certain Stainless Steels, Platinum, Rhodium, Carbon Fiber, maybe Titanium, Gold is too soft, or better plastic could work.

The flute world already has that, with fancy metals, as mentioned in this forum at times. We already do with Steel and plastic mouthpieces too. Heck, some instruments are made of bone/actual horns.

Plus, nicer or more expensive plastic can probably work out nicely if some effort was put into redesigning a tuba to better match the way the plastic would resonate.

And, who knows, just people do with cases, bags, bottles, etc. maybe people would be more into showing their "creative expressions" ie stickers or bling on their instruments too.

Can I talk @bloke into getting a silver plated instrument? Probably not, I don't enjoy being a sales person. But I would probably have an easier time to convince someone to get a tuba made out of the materials above, if the price is right!

[bloke]

Red plastic is pretty nice, and - since I can't afford a red Corvette - as red plastic tuba (particularly one of those St. Pete-like ones) is probably the next best thing.

Dick Woodhams finally decided/realized that a plastic oboe (with the same dimensions, the same player, and the same reed) sounds...the same.

He grew sick-and-tired of cracks, and purchased a plastic top joint from Loree...

...so I believe I'll stick with (.002" thick...??) less...??) plastic-coated brass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Woodhams

[Schlitzz]

I like my Butler CF Bass bell. Bach Fiddy's with some cf components work for me. Silver euphs are fine too.

[bloke]

I think it's interesting that I have friends who have played various Bach, Yamaha, Getzen/Edwards trombones, bought a Shires, and then said "it is the best thing they've ever owned"... but they've never owned and used any well-preserved Elkhart, Indiana-vintage (ie. real...not Texas/Ohio) Conn trombones.

I grew up (being remarkably lucky) playing with some really well-schooled and accomplished trombonists with strong pedigrees (Remington / Beversdorf students, etc.) who were much older than I was who all played Elkhart Conn instruments. When I sometimes end up next to a really good bass trombonist playing a vintage Conn trombone, I feel at home. I have one friend who picked up a casual-money 72H - which I brought back from the dead for him, and another who has an amazing new-looking Minick 62H (gold brass, larger throat, tuning in slide, basically a reissue of the 70H, yet with a dependent D valve). When I work with people as described just previously, memories (aural triggers) start pouring back into my head from forty and fifty years ago.

[PlayTheTuba]

Well with plastic coated brass, should it be even thicker than 0.002"? This of course assuming that plastic is generally more semi-permbiable than lacquer is? Or do we plastic coat lacquered brass? . Kinda like lacquer on sliver.

[bloke]

yeah...I'm referring to sprayed on lacquer as "plastic", particularly as EPOXY lacquer tends to come off in a very thin SHEET (rather than dissolving).

[PlayTheTuba]

Red plastic is pretty nice, and - since I can't afford a red Corvette - as red plastic tuba (particularly one of those St. Pete-like ones) is probably the next best thing.

Dick Woodhams finally decided/realized that a plastic oboe (with the same dimensions, the same player, and the same reed) sounds...the same.

He grew sick-and-tired of cracks, and purchased a plastic top joint from Loree...

...so I believe I'll stick with (.002" thick...??) less...??) plastic-coated brass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Woodhams

Kinda like this St. Petersburg tuba? But more red than orange.
https://www.tubaexchange.com/products/o ... b-4-4-tuba

[bloke]

Red plastic is pretty nice, and - since I can't afford a red Corvette - as red plastic tuba (particularly one of those St. Pete-like ones) is probably the next best thing.

Dick Woodhams finally decided/realized that a plastic oboe (with the same dimensions, the same player, and the same reed) sounds...the same.

He grew sick-and-tired of cracks, and purchased a plastic top joint from Loree...

...so I believe I'll stick with (.002" thick...??) less...??) plastic-coated brass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Woodhams

Kinda like this St. Petersburg tuba? But more red than orange.
https://www.tubaexchange.com/products/o ... b-4-4-tuba

That one's cool...but Cool Winds is cooler.