TromboneChat

Hello,
I have this old Conn Director and I would like to do something to it to make it look nice.

How about stripping it, hand polishing and tyen just a brass znti tarnish
Clear coat from a rattle can?

Or is there a better way?

This is cost sensitive budget repair to make this, otherwise fine, instrument presentable.

Strip polish and leave it to patina.

Elow wrote: ↑Sat Feb 18, 2023 7:29 pm Strip polish and leave it to patina.

But it looks like some serious pitting too.

It looks like green pitting in places.
The lacquer was either poor or something happened to the instrument.

The case is fine and the problems are not limited to where the case padding touches.

With older instruments like that, customers sometimes just want the brass to develop an even (lacquer-free) patina. If you don’t mind a brushed finish, the instrument could be “scratch-brushed.” It is a soft-brass bristle that is placed on a buffing wheel. Because no buffing compound is used, it brushes off layers of lacquer and leaves a light brushed finish without chewing into the metal.

I have found that it “evens out” the finish if a horn has spotty lacquer coverage. It allows the finish to age more evenly than the stark contrast of spotty lacquer against no lacquer.

Those Conn Directors can be hit or miss as players. Yes there are a lot of bad ones out there. However, I occasionally come across one that is very good.

My aim here is to make it nice and then sell it since I just have too many bones at this stage.
Nobody wanted it so far as is and I don't want to throw it out.

The cost of making it “nice” might far exceed the amount you will get for the horn. Maybe just aim to make it look “better” and see what you can get for it.

Exactly my concern as well. I just can't get myself to throw it out.
In its current state, I could not even give it away. Never mind that it is playable

Brass polish would clean the tarnish off of the bare areas, making it look a lot better.
I would do that, and then donate the horn to a school music program in Sydney.
The Conn Director is a good starter horn for a grade-school beginner, and I'd bet that the band director could find it an appreciative home.

Lots of threads on stripping finish here. I'd say strip it, polish it, and then sell/donate it. Polishing goes much better if you buy some polishing wheels (I put mine onto my drill press), and a pack of tripoli, white diamond, and red rouge. I was pretty amazed how my old school horn turned out. Just be aware that if this is newer than around 1960, removing the finish will be a bear. Earlier... heck ... hot water does a fair job.

The finish on this horn seems to be of dubious quality to start with as I have not seen another horn where it has so much random loss and pitting. Unless someone sparyed it with something that caused the damage.

I have seen many horns with pitting like that turned into attractive instruments. After stripping the lacquer, use sandpaper or emery cloth to “blend” the pitted areas with others. Continue with finer grits of sandpaper/emery cloth and finish with multiple grades of steel wool (coarse to fine). You will have an attractive instrument with a raw brushed finish.

The secret is to not be too aggressive on the severely pitted areas. The key word is to “blend“ those sections with the metal around it.