Better Sounds Australia

Does lacquer affect sound quality compared to silver?

If the lacquer is a poor quality and overly thick, then yes, the tone will be duller in sound. Here at Better Sounds, we pride ourselves on the quality of our lacquer finishes, and we believe that our lacquer finishes equal a silver plated finish for sound and tone quality.

Read on to understand how the finish affects the sound, and why a Better Sounds lacquer finish is as close as you will be to a silver plate finish with lacquer.

If the lacquer is a poor quality and overly thick, then yes, the tone will be duller in sound. Here at Better Sounds, we pride ourselves on the quality of our lacquer finishes, and we believe that our lacquer finishes equal a silver plated finish for sound and tone quality.

Read on to understand how the finish affects the sound, and why a Better Sounds lacquer finish is as close as you will be to a silver plate finish with lacquer.

The sound we hear from a brass or woodwind instrument is actually the sound of your lips or a reed vibrating, amplified through the instrument. The sound waves bounce around inside the instrument as they make their way through.

The character or personality of the sound comes from the metal used, the tension in the metal, the thickness of the metal,  the angle of the curves, bore size of the tubing, and of course the overall length.

Putting a silver plate or lacquer finish on the instrument has the effect of protecting the instrument, but it does affect the sound.

Correct lacquer or Silver plating is quite thin, in the order of 5 to 10 microns. Almost impossible to detect a change from raw brass.

A thick lacquer or silver plated coating, on the other hand, can be up to 15 - 20 microns in thickness, and will have a huge effect on the personality of the sound waves bouncing against the internal metal surfaces of the instrument.  This results in a deadened sound quality.

The Oven baked lacquer and lacquering techniques used by Better Sounds are based on high quality factory standards applying a thin long lasting coating, and consistent finish, retaining the integrity of the warm brass sound produced.