Expert: Kenton Scott - 10/3/2008

Question
I saw another question you answered about what might be this same model, but thought I'd check to see if it is a different year:  mine is a Buescher trombone, silver color, gold wash in the bell.  Bell has floral pattern around edge & says "The / Buescher / Elkhart / Ind" and no other name I can see on the bell.  The elbow behind the bell has a metal brace also embossed w/ a floral pattern.  The serial number is 219576.  Under that it says "LP 430" and the Pat. Oct. 29,'07 indicated.  The tuning is in the slide w/ a screw mechanism; the bell elbow is fixed.  

I would like to know what year it is.  And I know you do not do estimates, but I'd like to know about whether I should try to clean tarnish off it, in terms of any potential value it might have (it is pretty dented up in the bell and a good bit of varnish is gone).  Would cleaning up the tarnish diminish any potential value?

Thanks.

Answer
Your horn dates to 1926.  If your horn is a silverplated horn, there shouldn't be any varnish on it, unless someone put some on it aftermarket.  If it is just tarnish you are removing from the silverplating, that should not be a problem.  If it, in fact, has been varnished, then after lacquer start to fall off the underlying metal will tarnish.  When that happens, to get a good looking instrument again, the old lacquer need to be first removed.