The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently found a nice Zonophone with an all brass horn... I’m on the fence about polishing it and was curious about the preferences of others... and if the choice is to polish, would anyone have any recommendations?

That is a never ending question. It all looks great as is. But, if you polish the horn, then it will look too good next to the plated parts, finish, felt, etc.... Then you will be tempted to go after thosse parts as well. I would first give the case a good cleaning and enjoy it.

Any more, I kind of figure that if the item in question has made it through 110 years without my help, and still functions, it can go few more on its own. Besides, if you polish it once, you'll have to keep polishing it every so often.

If it were mine I would disassemble and clean the cabinet. Next I'd clean and polish all the nickel parts including the tone arm and reassemble. I would expect that you'll invest around four hours including oiling the governor, etc. Don't forget new gaskets for the sound box. Finally I would install the horn and step back and take a look at the whole outfit. I think you may want to polish the horn. Polishing that horn is not like refinishing the cabinet when it really didn't need a new finish. I imagine that horn was polished occasionally when it was being used by the original owners. Cabinets were dusted and horns were polished. But please know that polishing a brass horn is like starting down a one way street. There's no turning back! But the finished and cleaned machine with a polished horn would really pop! My opinion.

Jerry Blais

Here is an after photo which may help you decide. This one was even further along than yours as it had rust drips on the the horn which took away from the overall look.
I also finished the horn with Renaissance Wax which should keep the shine for some time.

Good Luck

Bruce

If you want it to look good - polish! I believe this is the way the horn was intended to look.

If you like the look of dull oxidation - then leave as is.

Here's a brass horn that pops. But it's really an unfair photo. I was taking photos in the other half of the basement and I had all the lights on for good photos. I walked back into the portion of the basement that has most of my collection. That part of the basement was dark but that brass horn seemed to grab all the light coming from the other part of the basement.

Jerry B.

I had that same model Zono with a polished horn and it looked great, like originally intended. If you do decide to polish it, you should probably take it to a person who does musical instruments, since it is difficult to polish the interior of a brass horn all the way down. Just like band instruments, it looks better, in my opinion to polish them. Unpolished brass band instruments look neglected and so do phonograph horns that were meant to be kept polished. It's similar to referring to rusted metal parts as a "patina" instead of saying they have been abused and neglected for 100 years...

If you decide to polish the horn, contact John Duffy on the forum.He is a miracle worker if you ever have a dented horn, and he polishes these horns to a mirror shine..Super nice fellow..

Joe

If sending the horn to John Duffy is not an option I would second the opinion of taking it to a band instrument repair person. I have done this many times with outstanding results. They can remove dents and can easily polish correctly. I always found their prices to be reasonable as well.