Differences in Black nickel finishes

[CodyW]

I see some black nickel sx90's and they have that nice black nickel look to them. They almost look silver if the light is right. Then some have more of that deeper black look to them, and it looks more like a black laquer. Like the SX90R tenor on Ebay now has that laquer look to it. Did the different years of production have different amounts of nickel "look" to them or is it just the light in the pictures i see?

[mostly alto guy]

Black nickel is funny stuff. It can look almost silver, or it can look really black, or anything in between. It can even look like multi-coloured swirls, like a film of mineral oil on water. In my experience, though, it's a matter of lighting and viewing angle rather than a real difference in the finish. A good photographer could use this to great advantage, making the finish look just about any way he would choose.

[CodyW]

Could it also be that the newer horns are black nickel "anodized", and are the older ones are not anodized?

[zgatt]

There's a little discussion about this in "sax finishes", at the bottom of the forum list.

The upshot is, "black nickel" is actually nickel and zinc plating, and so it could range from very silver (nickel) to charcoal, apparently. It's clear laquered over the plating.

Then, there's also a totally different black finish, which is black-tinted laquer.

I was wondering about the "nickel-silver" finish, though - this looks really cool, a sort of deep gray satin finish. I like the pictures I see better than the shiny black nickel finishes. I've never seen a nickel-silver in person though. (PS - what finish is this? - I'll ask in the finishes forum).

z

[tomsch]

The nickle sliver is not just a finish but a metal type. I tried a tenor NS for about a week as a replacement for my Couf SuperbaI. Strong, vibrant tone but in the end it lacked the depth of tone that my Couf has.

[Tears June]

1) How you compare with Keilwerth (SX90R) & Guardala (DG-501BN or DG-500BN) Black Nickel tenor ?
Which one you like? Does it sound very similar? I've tried the DG-500BN, which sound wonderful and very smooth keywork (better than YTS in my option). But never try Keilwerth .

2) Will the Black Nickel material easy to worn out? I saw one in ebay for sell before (Guardala). Which look terrible when these black nickel gone.

:cry: