So my Bach 36BO circa 1990 is showing it's age with wear spots on the bell section and slide.

Is it worth getting it relacquered or should I look to get it stripped to raw brass? She's playing just fine though my tech did say I'll probably need a new slide crook sooner rather than later due to red rot.

I'm also thinking about upgrading the ring-and-ball linkage to the miniball linkage to quiet things down a bit.

Or am I reading too far into this and should I not worry about the overall look if she's playing fine?

Examples of wear:

<IMGUR id="w0xKjKt">https://imgur.com/w0xKjKt</IMGUR>

<IMGUR id="dkubBzX">https://imgur.com/dkubBzX</IMGUR>

Thanks in advance!

Relacquer depends on how much fiddling you want to do to keep up the appearance.

Stripping the lacquer will mean you will need to polish the thing every couple of months if you want it shiny, and using some car wax if you want it to stay that way for the couple of months.

A full strip and relacquer means you won't need to polish the thing up so often, but it will cost you. And you can never recoup the cost of the relacquer in resale value. Also, you have to be careful who you ask to do the relacquer. Too thick a coating can cause the horn to become rather dull sounding.

Converting to minibal linkage is up to you. If you don't mind keeping after it the original Bach ball joint will continue to work fine (I have one from 1990 also and it's in great shape).

I know this isn't a definitive answer; just a few things to consider.

If you want the horn shiny or shiny-ish, I probably wouldn't bother relacquering. If you like the look of a raw brass bell with patina, then that probably looks nicer than lacquer that's starting to wear away.

I personally wouldn't switch to minibals. The original Bach joint is actually much quieter if well cared for than many minibal joints.

Nothing wrong with some new lacquer. If you have anything you want done to the horn, now would be the time then. And fyi some nicely done custom work and clean lacquer does improve the value. Perhaps not the full amount spent, bit marginally none the less. The new linkage is a great idea, and if you wanted to stick with bach, they make a kit for the purpose of being a direct replacement (the parts require some work to operate properly though).

[quote="LIBrassCo"]Nothing wrong with some new lacquer. If you have anything you want done to the horn, now would be the time then. And fyi some nicely done custom work and clean lacquer does improve the value. Perhaps not the full amount spent, bit marginally none the less. The new linkage is a great idea, and if you wanted to stick with bach, they make a kit for the purpose of being a direct replacement (the parts require some work to operate properly though).[/quote]

Agreed on the lacquer. Also, if the horn has a certain sentimental value, then why not? I see a lot of lacquer stripped off bells because of a gash or crease. It looks horrible initially, so the owner completely strips the bell portion. So one can't say that cosmetics doesn't matter, otherwise they wouldn't have taken the opportunity to strip it all off. It surely does in resale, but a lacquer job worth getting is worth keeping the horn for another couple of decades. In the case that other work is being performed on the horn, would be easier to do it all at once.

I have no plans to get rid of the horn. It was a gift from my parents my junior year in HS and I got it new. Too muci sentimental value and I love the way she plays. I'll look towards getting her stripped and relacquered down the road a bit. Thanks for the input, folks!