[Saxophonism]

Hello,
I have a Cannonball brute Big Bell and on the front of the bell the finish is faded to a light brass. I would like to even out the finish. Been curious lately wondering if there is a way to age the spots on the saxophone that have faded to light brass, without dissemblance the saxophone. I found this brass ager on jaxchemical.com called JAX antique brown finish for brass. Just want to know if this would be safe to us on the saxophone. Here's a link http://www.jaxchemical.com/jaxshop/shopexd.asp?id=37 I was thinking of buying it and trying it out on a piece of brass first and see how it turns out. If you know of anyways to age brass it without harming the saxophone please let me know.
Thanks

 

[Pete Thomas]

Presuming it's safe to handle in regard to any toxins it might contain, then it would probably be OK on your saxophone. I think something like that must be safe to handle.

The only issue I can think of is that I would think it's designed to be applied direct to the metal, if there is already a chemical based finish, whether new or partly worn, then it may not be as effective and I doubt they would guarantee it to work on top of an unknown existing finish.

As with the existimngh brute finish it probably won't be permanent. Those products are made for ornanments etc. which are not expected to be constantly handled.

If the worst comes to the worst, it can probably be removed along with the xisting finish so you'd end up with bare brass.

My inclnation would first be to ask cannonball what they recommend. As they supply the saxophones with this finish, you'd think they have knowledge on its maintenance.

The best thing to use for aging a saxophone is time.

 

[milandro]

The “ brute” finish is a patination achieved on that horn with chemicals any of these horns (not only the Cannonball but all the others too!) will loose the patination in time and where the metal gets rubbed by hands , clothes or the case, any of these patinated and unprotected horns WILL loose the patina.

If you look to reapply the patina you are unlikely to find a product which will produce the exact same hue, therefore you might easily be ending up with two (or more) different colours on your horn anyway, so, maybe better to appreciate the way your horn ages.

 

[Saxophonism]

Thanks guys! will try to contact cannonball and ask them what they would recommend.

 

[milandro]

I think they will recommend buying another one :twisted:

 

[RandalCannonball]

Saxophonism, that's a good question. In fact, what you're seeing is what's supposed to happen to your Brute over time. I think it'll help to read our short blog about how we invented the Brute finish: http://www.cannonballmusic.com/blog/?p=231
As it says, no two Brutes are just alike -- yours is unique to you. Where you handle your horn regularly, the brass starts to appear more burnished-looking ... that gives your Brute its own individual character. We often have proud customers send us pictures of what their Brute looks like after a couple of years because they love it so much.