Lacquer stripping my vintage CommitteeY

yoelarry · Regular Member Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 49

I have a 1954 Martin Committee Trumpet. I want to get the lacquer stripped at a nearby shop. The shop has great reviews and the tech/owner has been in business 30 years. Question: how safe is the procedure? Am I taking a chance with my Vintage horn in the hands of an instrument repair guy I’ve never dealt with. He says he can and like I said has 30 years repairing instruments but still….

jairo_saade · Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 8:52 am Post subject:

Hi,

Removing lacquer is a fairly simple process, you could DIY if you want. I removed the lacquer of an old bach and all it took was to put the horn for half an hour in warm water, it softened the lacquer and then some elbow grease and some toothbrush action.

!warning! the next part is not for sensitive people: after removing the majority of the lacquer with the warm water I went and use brasso and steel wool to remove the parts that would not go so easily.

regards.
Joe
_________________
Joe S

GoingRover · Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 9:30 am Post subject:

I recently did a lacquer removal. easy peasy. It took two coatings, so 15 minutes as posed to 7, but simple. I did use brushes and toothbrushes and pipe cleaners for hard areas, but not a problem. cleaned reassembled and played lovely.

THEN...lol because its a trash horn, I sand blasted the girl so she's dull. cleaned her with soap and water and applied a ceramic coating to protect the raw brass. looks unique, sounds nice (Jazz horn sultry), and no more exterior esthetic maintenance required.

Happy to show pics of process and final and chemicals used if anyone cares.

Love!

yoelarry · Regular Member Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 49

Thanx. I’d just as soon let a pro do it.

yourbrass

Jon Arnold · Heavyweight Member Joined: 07 Jan 2002 Posts: 2027

If you are not comfortable doing it yourself, take it to a tech. I stripped a Yamaha 8310Z once. It was an all day job bc the epoxy lacquer is tough to get off. The old horns have a cellulose based lacquer that is not so tough. I bought a can of lacquer stripper at Lowe's if you feel ambitious.

GoingRover · Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2022 7:49 pm Post subject:

I totally understand if you're tentative to DIY. However I agree with both YourBrass that I've never seen stripper hurt metal. I feel Bad for Jon too cuz it shouldn't have been that hard.

buy a trashed horn or a piece of garbage brass and practice. I think you'll find it aint hard.

Shop an auto body supply store and get a stripper there. Jon's day would have been shorter. Sorry bud, didn't know you then. Aircraft Stripper is best. I forget the brand, but it comes brush and aerosol and eats ALL finishes immediately. (Wear PPE)

I was an aircraft mechanic in the military, worked my way through college in an auto body shop, owned a microbrewery with copper kettles and worked in a foundry to boot. I know metal. Metal is tough... and yet soft.

Like ME!!! HA!

Jon Arnold · Heavyweight Member Joined: 07 Jan 2002 Posts: 2027

Another thought. How much did your tech say they would charge to strip the horn? Might save you time and money to just have the tech do it right the first time especially if it is a horn that you value. I have a great local tech and I am at the point I trust him to do amazing work for a reasonable price. So that is what I do.