just curious......
I have a brass tailpiece and cover. (not cast)
Do you guys polish it with anything?
Don't want it to lose it's shine prematurely.
just curious......
I have a brass tailpiece and cover. (not cast)
Do you guys polish it with anything?
Don't want it to lose it's shine prematurely.
Northfield Calhoun Mandolin
Eastman MD505 Mandolin
Seagull S8 Mandolin
Godin A8 Mandolin
Fishman Loudbox Mini
Blue Chip Picks
Wayne
I'd remove it & give it an 'first' good polish with a good quality metal polishing cream/liquid to give it a good shine.After that i'd buy one of the Silver polishing cloths that you can get & give it the occasional rub over with that to keep it tarnish free.The cloths are dry & have an impregnated polishing powder in them.They're very un-messy & easy to use,
Ivan
Weber F-5 'Fern'.
Lebeda F-5 "Special".
Stelling Bellflower BANJO
Tokai - 'Tele-alike'.
Ellis DeLuxe "A" style.
Brass oxidises quickly, so I can't see the point of continually polishing.
Dave H
Eastman 615 mandola
2011 Weber Bitteroot A5
2012 Weber Bitteroot F5
Eastman MD 915V
Gibson F9
2016 Capek ' Bob ' standard scale tenor banjo
Ibanez Artist 5 string
2001 Paul Shippey oval hole
The brass may well be lacquered, in which case polishing is the worst thing to do. If it's not lacquered, you may want to lacquer it yourself - it's the only way to keep it shiny over a long period without endless polishing. Or just let the brass do its own thing and not worry, since well weathered brass tends to acquire a fantastic complex patina.
There is a product available in most home stores (I got mine at Home Depot, Wal-mart also carries it) called NEVR-DULL. It's a can that contains a big wad of cotton like cloth. You pull off a small piece of the cotton and simply rub the offending piece of metal and it shines. Wipe off the almost miniscule amount of residue with a clean paper towel and your done. It's used for polishing everything from fine silver to cars and works on most metals. Their website is here. One can will probably last a lifetime. I used it for years when restoring vintage banjos and guitars. I use it on my mandolin TP cover.
thanks everyone.
I like houseworker's thoughts about just letting the brass do its own thing and not worry, since well weathered brass tends to acquire a fantastic complex patina.
My concern is perhaps the cover would change faster than the other brass components and therefore stick out like a sore thumb. Perhaps I'll hold off and monitor it before putting any polish to it.
thanks again Wayne
Northfield Calhoun Mandolin
Eastman MD505 Mandolin
Seagull S8 Mandolin
Godin A8 Mandolin
Fishman Loudbox Mini
Blue Chip Picks
Wayne
Can you post a picture?
I epoxied on a piece of Ebony on my metal tailpiece.. works nicely..
some people can do Inlay on the ebony if you wish..
Frank Wakefield has a spare flowerpot on his, as I recall..
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