TromboneChat

So I've seen these custom vintage restored colored horns by The HN White Company for a while now and I was just wondering what your thoughts were on these? I'm aware they are vintage King horns so I assume they must be good. Does the horn being baked on colored lacquer affect the sound? I will admit the thought of owning and playing on a black colored king 2b sounds cool. Would I be better off buying a different horn and in the future, getting a custom color lacquer on it? How much would that even cost?

The H.N. White Company Website:
https://www.hnwhite.com

Their listings on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/str/thehnwhitecomp ... 61.l161211

A listing on Reverb of one I saw a while back:
https://reverb.com/item/78455190-king-h ... _sold=true

I feel like I read somewhere that people who have purchased these restored horns have found the finishes begin to degrade relatively rapidly, but I can't swear to that. You might want to search and see what you can find in that regard. And, this is just an opinion, these prices are awfully high for the "pretty". And also an opinion, cool looking and functional/well-playing don't go hand in hand. YMMV, caveat emptor, etc.

Cost is going to be approximately what it would cost to re-lacquer. You’ll have to find a shop that wants to take it on which will be more challenging than “just” finding someone to re-lacquer. Off the top of my head I know I’ve seen BAC and Rath do this work.

I’m sure there are others it’s just a pretty rare thing for someone to want although I would bet there is an untapped market, given how quickly things like the Yamaha Phoenix (black lacquer) seem to sell. I think the main problem as eluded to, is that the finish of lacquer does eventually wear off and it’s much more obvious when it is anything other than clear.

It's all completely subjective, but other than their silver finishes, I'm not a fan of that weird lacquer.

The silver and gold accent finishes are dope though.

Personally, I like the idea of colored lacquer...only having the choice between gold and silver is pretty boring.

But also personally, I would only get colored lacquer done from a company I know is really good at doing colored lacquer, like Rath (who offers colored lacquer as a standard option on their horns). Those resto-modded Kings have been on eBay forever.

That said, I think a raw brass finish with cool patina is by far the coolest a brass instrument can look. I'm a sucker for those "antique" finishes you can get on some fancy European horns.

I’ve had one done from a company that did silver plate with the gold accents. It was a King 607F. The silver plate was done well, but the gold accent on the inner bell started to flake. Never used a stand on it and was real careful too…

I’ve always loved the old HN White silver and gold look.

Think I’m with Finetales on this one. Has to be done by a company that knows what they were doing.

Beeman brass works in Eastlake OH does a lot of the colored lacquer work. Friends I know that have gone to them seem to enjoy the results!