Restoring the luster of a 123-year-old tuba
Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2022 7:12 am
Hi all - I had the day off yesterday, and the weather was great, so I worked on cleaning and polishing the 1899 C. G. Conn American Model Monster BBb Bass that was graciously given to me a couple of weeks ago (see previous posts).
Here's the transformation!
For those interested, here is the "recipe" that I went with, which was recommended to me by a repair/restoration specialist:
1. Thoroughly cleaned the tuba with a mild soap and water, then dried it off.
2. Wiped it down multiple times with Tarn-X to remove the tarnish, then rinsed it thoroughly.
3. Gently brushed it with a baking soda and water paste, then rinsed it thoroughly, and dried it off.
4. Lightly polished it with a tarnish-inhibiting polish (I used Hagerty's silver polish).
Also, I had previously suggested that the year the tuba was built was 1898, but Peggy Banks, at the National Music Museum, who is an expert on all things Conn, and has been researching serial numbers for decades, confirmed that it was built in 1899 (serial number 66235).
Finally, you'll notice that there are two tubes, that relate to the main tuning slide, that didn't polish up, as they are not silver plated. They are extension tubes that make the horn low pitch, and were perhaps added later.
Here's the transformation!
- Side-by-side comparison.jpg (194.91 KiB) Viewed 400 times
For those interested, here is the "recipe" that I went with, which was recommended to me by a repair/restoration specialist:
1. Thoroughly cleaned the tuba with a mild soap and water, then dried it off.
2. Wiped it down multiple times with Tarn-X to remove the tarnish, then rinsed it thoroughly.
3. Gently brushed it with a baking soda and water paste, then rinsed it thoroughly, and dried it off.
4. Lightly polished it with a tarnish-inhibiting polish (I used Hagerty's silver polish).
Also, I had previously suggested that the year the tuba was built was 1898, but Peggy Banks, at the National Music Museum, who is an expert on all things Conn, and has been researching serial numbers for decades, confirmed that it was built in 1899 (serial number 66235).
Finally, you'll notice that there are two tubes, that relate to the main tuning slide, that didn't polish up, as they are not silver plated. They are extension tubes that make the horn low pitch, and were perhaps added later.