Example of a bronze finish, the Yanagisawa 991 Saxophone

Gold Lacquer

The word gold lacquer is probably misleading as there is no gold colour in the lacquer and in fact the surface colour is derived from the most meticulous cleaning and polishing of the surface of the saxophone and its parts to a bright mirror like finish of the brass, then lacquered with a two part, heat cured, epoxy lacquer.

The result is a beautiful resiliant scuff resistant surface. However, it is important to note that the surface finish is only as good as you (the new owner) keeps it. As the surface is only lacquer covering the highly polished brass, a small scratch in the lacquer will allow the air to penetrate to the exposed brass. This will allow the nacent brass to tarnish, over a period of time and become a dirty brown colour, contrasting with the beautiful brass lacquered look. This change is permanent and cannot be reversed.