[mkemp]

I'm really interested in picking up another buescher. I was just wondering about the effects of replating on a Buescher. I know relacquering can change the tone of a sax. I was checking through vintagesax.com and worldwidesax.com and noticed a few replated sax's. Does the tone change for the better/worse after doing this? Also, do you find that it looks cosmetically appealing? They look good in the pictures, though perhaps a little too much in some cases. Of course, pictures can only show so much..

 

[J.Max]

*Sighs* Here we go again...

 

[Pinnman]

My view on these is that they are more expensive than lacquered saxes. Clearly, however, there is a market. I am not too keen on the looks, but others must be.

I wonder what state replated saxes were in before replating. Some will say that they will not have been very bad, but the finish would not have been brill. But how many dents have been removed with what effect? How much metal was removed when the old lacquer was removed? Oddly, people seem to worry about this on relacquered saxes but not on replated ones.

Usually, the replating will haev been followed by re-engravng. All in all, good looking saxes if you like silver ... and very costly.

The tone question is, a already noted above, highly controversial. However, and this is a separate point, the newly replated sax will be bright for a while until it settles down. Expect a couple of years or so.

 

[Grumps]

Here's my personal experience...

I have a curved Buescher True Tone soprano, and have had it since about the late 70's. Though it was lacquered when I got it, it was a goopy aftermarket job which included buffing its original remaining silver off (I learned much later). Since I'd had the horn for so long, rather than just go for one with its original silver, a few years ago I had it stripped and replated. The horn played fine before, and plays fine after. I've compared it to original True Tones since and found nothing lacking; and remember, this horn had been refinished at least twice... maybe even more.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Mkemp, the three longest recent threads in this section of the forum are on this topic.

J.Max's sighs are most certainly warranted.
I think most of us got heartily sick of the topic.
There is little point in repeating this discussion!
See the following:

http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=62244
http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=61212
http://www.saxontheweb.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=42432

 

[Grumps]

The original question is specific to replating vintage Bueschers and effects that might have, including appearance; not the garden variety plating vs. lacquer sound debate. Give him some leeway here.

 

[Dr G]

However, and this is a separate point, the newly replated sax will be bright for a while until it settles down. Expect a couple of years or so.

Do you mean "shiny"? Why on earth would it be any brighter in sound until it "settles down"? Are you suggested that it is somehow excited by the voltages and chemical bath associated with plating?

If anything "settles down", it is the seating of the pads after the new rebuild.

 

[Dave dix]

If its a true tone you want plating i would just buy an ebay original plated horn and save a fortune
Dave

 

[Grumps]

In my case, I'd had the horn for years, was somewhat attached to it and got the plating job done at a price too low to resist.

Here's a shot of the recut engraving of the replated soprano:

 

[kymarto]

In a nutshell:

Although this is controversial among players, most scientists agree that plating will not materially affect either the tone or response of the horn, *in and of itself*

However,

Since a replate always involves a complete redo of the horn, it will certainly sound and respond differently, just as it would after an overhaul without a replate.

Replating involves the interior as well as the exterior of the sax. If the interior walls become smoother after the replate (which one would expect as all the gunk and corrosion are cleaned out) it could definitely have an effect on the sound and response, but basically you could get the same effect by cleaning out the bore without the replate.

I end it here. I will not get into a rehash. Anyone wishing to get the rest of the story read the threads referred to earlier.

Toby

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

Pretty little horn there Grumps. Who did the actual re-plating, Anderson's?

 

[bruce bailey]

I agree that with all of the silver plated ones for sale (probably 15 on ebay now) that you should find a nice original (with the white pads still there) and clean it and do it over. You can buy nice series II horns for about $250 and series 3 or 4 horns for about twice that (front F and roller cluster). The last TT alto I sold in silver was about $500 overhauled and nice. Start looking!

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

The original question is specific to replating vintage Bueschers and effects that might have, including appearance; not the garden variety plating vs. lacquer sound debate. Give him some leeway here.

Please enlighten me.... What on earth makes a 'vintage Buescher' so different from any other as far as this issue goes?

 

[Grumps]

Please enlighten me.... What on earth makes a 'vintage Buescher' so different from any other as far as this issue goes?

Sure thing Gordon. I find vintage Bueschers to be incredibly thick and sturdy horns; even when compared to Martins and Conns from the same era. Folks always worry about removing metal with rough buffing on replating/relacquering jobs and I know for a fact that mine was buffed quite heavily (to remove old silver, at some point in its history); and it may have even been done twice before I got the horn. Still, in comparison to modern curved sopranos, it has a more substantial feel. You could hammer nails with its bell. So what I'm doing in all this, is attempting to reassure the original poster, that vintage Bueschers can take a heavy buffing and still be comparible with original models when replated, as per my personal experience. Hope you're enlightened now.

Now I don't think anyone is talking about replating a True Tone alto, which are incredibly common in their original form, and would seemingly be a waste. Most of Gayle's replated Buescher Horns, to my knowledge, are Aristocrats, and I seriously doubt that you'd find fifteen of them in original silverplate on Ebay at the moment; let alone one. As for my soprano, no, I didn't use Andersons, but the tech who did it on his own for me isn't really available for such work anymore due to health concerns.

 

[Gordon (NZ)]

Thanks. I hear "thicker metal".

 

[kymarto]

Funny, the Bueschers I have handled always seemed more fragile than Conns and Martins. Maybe it is those thin, unrolled tone hole chimneys...

Toby