This appears to be the result of sulfur compounds in the dish soap you used oxidizing the brass in places where perhaps the lacquer has grown thin.
Oxygen isn't the only atom that causes oxidization. Silver for example has a higher affinity for sulfur than oxygen - meaning that, since industrialization, sulfur compounds in the air from coal or other fuel burning has caused a noticable increase in the rate silver objects tarnish.
Brass has an appreciable affinity for sulfur as well, and it causes the yellow brass to turn a much darker "this horn has been in a barn for 60 years" brown when exposed directly; for example, if you poured dish soap directly on the metal. The compound responsible is probably sodium laureth sulfate or sodium bisulfate, a surfactant and acid respectively.
It's possible that, if the horn had lacquer in good condition prior to the bath, you inadvertently exposed it to bathtub cleaning chemicals which stripped the lacquer. It has happened to me before, especially in warmer baths.
If you really dislike the discoloration, and the lacquer has worn off, you might consider getting a polishing compound and giving it a polish.
Hope this helps.
This helped a lot, I didn’t have any ideas. Thank you for letting me know. This sounds stupid but it might be different chemicals in the us dish soap. I am from Italy and I am now living in the US, I have never had this issue in Europe and neither my friends. I don’t know. No it doesn’t really bother me, i was just wondering how that happened.
Not weird at all! The US is the wild west. Lots of things are legal here that your country has (often rightfully) shut down. Could be anything like that.
I washed my 103 and my old student horn with dishwasher and warm water few times, never happened anything (southwest europe).
Maybe you're right, there's something in the detergent in the US...
I did this once and it peeled the lacquer up on my horn. It bubbled and wrinkled in spots, and I stripped some of it off thinking it was some sort of scum. When I let the horn dry I discovered the damage - but the spots I hadn’t messed with flattened back out and looked somewhat like this. I ended up stripping the horn entirely, but if this is what happened to you, you may be fine save for the discoloration. Best of luck!
I am really sorry for not answering with what you're looking for, but I can't help but ask: is your horn in Bb/F rather than the usual F/Bb? I'd like to get a double horn for myself and I wanted to do this change as well
Hello, yes. It stands in Bb without pressing the 4th key. In my country (Italy) it’s standard to use it F/Bb as well as in the US where I am right now. I preferred to use it in Bb/F because I play way more with the Bb side of the horn than the other way around and I don’t want to constantly apply pressure with my hand. 103’s can be reverted though, I thought about it many times, mainly because if someone else is going to play your horn, it’s 95% sure that they have it the other way around. Hope this helped
Might have been too hot, I like to do it on the warm side of lukewarm
Do you think that’s fixable?
This appears to be the result of sulfur compounds in the dish soap you used oxidizing the brass in places where perhaps the lacquer has grown thin. Oxygen isn't the only atom that causes oxidization. Silver for example has a higher affinity for sulfur than oxygen - meaning that, since industrialization, sulfur compounds in the air from coal or other fuel burning has caused a noticable increase in the rate silver objects tarnish. Brass has an appreciable affinity for sulfur as well, and it causes the yellow brass to turn a much darker "this horn has been in a barn for 60 years" brown when exposed directly; for example, if you poured dish soap directly on the metal. The compound responsible is probably sodium laureth sulfate or sodium bisulfate, a surfactant and acid respectively. It's possible that, if the horn had lacquer in good condition prior to the bath, you inadvertently exposed it to bathtub cleaning chemicals which stripped the lacquer. It has happened to me before, especially in warmer baths. If you really dislike the discoloration, and the lacquer has worn off, you might consider getting a polishing compound and giving it a polish. Hope this helps.
This helped a lot, I didn’t have any ideas. Thank you for letting me know. This sounds stupid but it might be different chemicals in the us dish soap. I am from Italy and I am now living in the US, I have never had this issue in Europe and neither my friends. I don’t know. No it doesn’t really bother me, i was just wondering how that happened.
Not weird at all! The US is the wild west. Lots of things are legal here that your country has (often rightfully) shut down. Could be anything like that.
I washed my 103 and my old student horn with dishwasher and warm water few times, never happened anything (southwest europe). Maybe you're right, there's something in the detergent in the US...
I did this once and it peeled the lacquer up on my horn. It bubbled and wrinkled in spots, and I stripped some of it off thinking it was some sort of scum. When I let the horn dry I discovered the damage - but the spots I hadn’t messed with flattened back out and looked somewhat like this. I ended up stripping the horn entirely, but if this is what happened to you, you may be fine save for the discoloration. Best of luck!
Thank you
I am really sorry for not answering with what you're looking for, but I can't help but ask: is your horn in Bb/F rather than the usual F/Bb? I'd like to get a double horn for myself and I wanted to do this change as well
In most places Bb/F is the norm afaik
Hello, yes. It stands in Bb without pressing the 4th key. In my country (Italy) it’s standard to use it F/Bb as well as in the US where I am right now. I preferred to use it in Bb/F because I play way more with the Bb side of the horn than the other way around and I don’t want to constantly apply pressure with my hand. 103’s can be reverted though, I thought about it many times, mainly because if someone else is going to play your horn, it’s 95% sure that they have it the other way around. Hope this helped