I nice low humidity (perhaps 55%/55°...??) winter afternoon would be a good day to lacquer.
I LOVE my (over 25-year-old) DuBro plastic links, but - when I croak - it will probably sell for more with Minibal links (which I don't like as much), so I'll probably convert the linkage as well.
This small dent has been on the small side of the bottom bow forever; I'll remove the bow and have Mrs. bloke do her "rebound" thing on that dent, and (upper bow) there's a good bit of lead solder under the (remarkably thin gauge) nickel-brass cap, which printed through after (magnet) dent removal...so I'm going to have Mrs. bloke HEAT that solder and - racing against time, while the lead solder underneath is molten - I'll run BACK across all of that dent removal (again, with the magnet) and flatten out the solder...This works...I've done it many times with other instruments. I've also removed a few bottom bow dents with the magnet, so I might go back over that stuff with the dent machine (so that the printed-through hammer marks (hand-hammered bottom bow) are ironed back to the INSIDE surface of the bow, and then run it though rounding rings and check for roundness with calipers.
...I've already really prettied-up the bell flare (other than it being brown).
again: This thing deserves to be pretty. It's the best F tuba I've ever played, I've been trying out others (ever since I bought it new - forty years ago) to see if there's anything better, and there's not anything near as good. It's so easy to play, it (sometimes) actually makes me giggle.
...and it's followed me around (no...not to six continents, but) to six countries. I'm hoping to find a decent 4/4 case for this. (I'm thinking that the 1209V MTS is really too big...I'd LOVE to luck into an OLDER/good Jakob Winter slightly-smaller one - one of these, in good shape: https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/NecAAOSw ... -l1600.jpg )....and (no, I'm not getting rid of any of them, but) move AWAY from using bags, and migrate to ALMOST ALWAYS using hard cases. I've really grown weary of "surprise dent-lettes".
...It's going to be difficult to discipline myself to do this.
> It pays NOTHING, and I get NO new instrument from these efforts.
> It won't play a nickel's worth better, and I may very well not like the linkage as much.
> These original lever springs LOOK like crap, but FEEL absolutely perfect...to borrow a Selmer, Paris expression: "balanced action". I'm sure I'll replace them, and REALLY HOPE that I can imitate the was these old P's.O.S. feel.
Last winter, I was moaning-and-groaning (for a number of weeks) during the winter (surgery recovery), and only getting up and "faking it" to play gigs.
This winter, I really need to get my butt in gear...I guess I'll put off the "cataracts" thing for one more year. (I'm still getting by pretty well, and am just not ready to spend the days of recovery - right now, and NOR (since I can still read WITHOUT glasses AND drive without them ) give up the ability to focus BOTH near and far...at least, not yet...and no: I do NOT need any coaxing or "cataract stories"...I know ALL-ALL-ALL about it. When I absolutely need to get it done, I'll get it done. ...' reading music...?? I tend to read a line or two at a time, so "what comes before" and "what comes after" supplies really obvious context clues, and - in my sixties - a whole bunch of stuff that I'm asked to play, I've played before.
