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Improve a sax's appearance?

2319 Views 21 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  cyblord, 
C
Would anyone like to share any methods they use to polish up a sax and make it look nicer? Are there any materials I should get?

Thanks!
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O
What kind of sax? Gotta know more about the finish (type, condition).
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C
This right here:

http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/viewimage.x/00000000/wjohn/MVC685F.JPG
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/viewimage.x/00000000/wjohn/MVC687F.JPG
http://imagehost.vendio.com/bin/viewimage.x/00000000/wjohn/MVC689F.JPG

Regular lacquered finish, scratches here and there.

I don't want to relacquer it or anything, just looking for ways to polish it up at home.
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O
Well... here's the problem with lacquer, its not metal. Metal can be polished, lacquer can be rubbed with special clothes and polishes until you pass out from exhaustion and you won't have accomplished anything. Lacquered horns can be cleaned and maintained but not polished.

I would regularly wipe it done with a soft cloth (to remove dirt, oil, debris, sweat, spit, etc..) and pull a swab through the bore (I like padsavers although some people don't). Some people also apply a thin coating of Runyon Lacquer Life or Pledge to the finish. I have no idea if that works but it makes sense that it would (sort of).

Aside from that though, there is nothing really that you can do. Besides, playing wear (scratches, worn spots on touch points) never hurt anybody.
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CountSpatula
I've used pledge before it gives my horn a nice lemon scent :D
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jacobeid
just play the horn and don't worry about it. I like my horns to have a rough look.
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bluesaxgirl
Relacquer it. It might be costly, but that's what it's going to take to get it like you want it to be.
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jbtsax
cyblord said:
Would anyone like to share any methods they use to polish up a sax and make it look nicer? Are there any materials I should get?
Click to expand...
-A can of Lemon Pledge spray
-A soft cloth
-A box of Q-tips

Spray a very light coat of the Pledge on one corner of the cloth and then rub in a circular motion on every exposed portion of the lacquer on the body and keys that you can reach. Then buff with the dry end of the cloth. For places you can't reach moisten a Q-tip with the Pledge and do the same thing, then buff with a dry Q-tip. Nothing can be done for the scratches short of relacquering. The Pledge will shine and help protect the finish.

John
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G
Look at it from a distance, like the audience does?
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C
jbtsax said:
-A can of Lemon Pledge spray
Click to expand...
There are so many different types of pledge products out there - which should I get?
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C
paint it blue
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C
What about for black lacquer? Will Lemon Pledge also do the trick?
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&
Just so I got it straight: using Pledge won't damage a lacquer surface? I'd hate to use this method and have an even better looking instrument, only to have the finish get eaten away.

Just thought I'd ask so I'd get it right....
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saxphil
Renaissance Wax or

Clapham's Beeswax Polish

Apply with soft cloth. Buff with soft cloth.
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Martin Williams
I cant remember the last time I polished my sax...

Any of them...

I'm fairly sure my audiences cant really tell
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C
Just polished my saxes today with Lemon Pledge following the instructions as earlier suggested by jbtsax. They're looking grreat!
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T
One of my friends painted his sax in school colors for homecoming. That probably wasn't the smartest idea...but it looked good! Probably easier than polishing in the long run!
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CountSpatula
I've used pledge on my Yamaha a few years ago maybe two or three times, lacquer is still 100% there.
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C
What about nail polish? I've heard something about using nail polish to cover up damaged lacquer?

I got a black lacquered horn and it has some slight, but noticeable scratches. Can I... say, use some black nail polish to cover it up?
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littlemanbighorn
bluesaxgirl said:
Relacquer it. It might be costly, but that's what it's going to take to get it like you want it to be.
Click to expand...
Don't relacquer. If you don't like the look of worn lacquer you're just going to run into the same problem again. Plus, relacquering also involves buffing which will always remove some quantity of metal. If you want to change the finish and keep the same horn then wait untill you can afford to silver (or gold) plate it. Those finishes will last far longer as well.
Black lacquer has the same problem but looks far worse once it starts to wear out.
Mostly you're just best off learning to love the look of an old warhorse of a horn. It looks like you've played it enough to earn the horn that way. The Jazz Festival here just ended and I saw 2 or 3 gigs a day for 10 days straight and I saw very few spotless shiny horns (and those tended to be silver). Great players wear the lacquer off of their horns and don't worry about it much.
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