dasboot Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 So, I was hoping that those of you with the knowledge could help me with this one. I have a Dynasty DEG II Contra, and it has this weird brownish, blackish grime starting on it. What should I do to clean and polish, if anything, my contra? Any help would be greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soprano Martin Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 Silver polish. Get it, and follow the instructions. The stuff you describe is tarnish. It forms when the silver oxidizes, just like steel when it rusts. If you want to go all out and clean the inside and the outside, get some snakes and brushes from a music store or online big enough to clean tubas. Take it to the bathtub, and put it in there with dish soap, and clean everything out. When I do this, I pull all the slides first, and set the valves aside. I clean everything but the valves in the soapy water, and those I just rinse and brush out in the sink with water. Having done that, re grease and oil everything, assemble, and then back to the silver polish. As an extra step, you can use car wax and polish with that after silver polishing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansan Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) Silver polish. Get it, and follow the instructions. The stuff you describe is tarnish. It forms when the silver oxidizes, just like steel when it rusts. If you want to go all out and clean the inside and the outside, get some snakes and brushes from a music store or online big enough to clean tubas. Take it to the bathtub, and put it in there with dish soap, and clean everything out. When I do this, I pull all the slides first, and set the valves aside. I clean everything but the valves in the soapy water, and those I just rinse and brush out in the sink with water. Having done that, re grease and oil everything, assemble, and then back to the silver polish. As an extra step, you can use car wax and polish with that after silver polishing I've heard Simple Green is safe to use for cleaning brass insruments. I've always use Dawn dishwashing soap. It cuts the grease and gets all the dirt off the horn. Edited May 23, 2011 by Kansan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Have heard the silver polish can be rough on the horns with certain (all?) silver finishes so don't use it unless it's the crud is really bad. IOW - dish soap to get water spots and fingerprints off. One of our contras came from someone who must have used silver polish liek a fiend as a LOT of finish if totally gone and you can see bare metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasboot Posted May 23, 2011 Author Share Posted May 23, 2011 Well, I ended up using the silver polish. I went to a local hardware store and got wright's silver cream, which worked well on my contra. I didn't see any wear on the horn's finish. It looks amazing now. The polish says to wash the horn immediately afterwards, which I think might of helped. Thanks everyone for the advice on how to clean a horn. Now if only there were a corps on Cape Cod in which I could use the horn, or any corps at all for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scatfish Posted May 31, 2011 Share Posted May 31, 2011 Do you recommend Steradents ( or any other denture cleaning tablets) placed in the water with the horn? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdy Posted June 1, 2011 Share Posted June 1, 2011 Be careful when cleaning and buffing some of those DEG contas. One time (1993) when I was cleaning some of Spirit's Deg contras I had to take great care not to rub off their silver finish. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2Valve Posted June 7, 2011 Share Posted June 7, 2011 Quick bump for a question. Has anyone used the the car wax suggestion? If so, what kind did you use and how well did it work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 Quick bump for a question. Has anyone used the the car wax suggestion? If so, what kind did you use and how well did it work? I used to polish my chrome contra with Turtle Wax, then when I marched Bluecoats I had a silver-plated horn. After a thorough cleaning, I used NuFinish 2000 on it - I didn't have to polish it the rest of the summer. Just make sure not to coat any grip spots (at least on the big horns...makes for a slippery finish). If you have any worries about your wax of choice, just work some in to an inconspicuous spot and leave it for a day or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soprano Martin Posted June 8, 2011 Share Posted June 8, 2011 I've used turtle wax on a couple of horns. It makes cleaning a breeze for a long time afterwards, a quick wipe and you're done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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