Sold/Expired Vincent Bach Flugels


New Member
Last april i bought a vincet bach flugel and since having it i have had to send it back with black spots.... Having been re-dipped in the uk it has starting getting black spots again!!!!! is it worth sending it back to get re-dipped AGAIN in gold? or should i ask for it in silver since the silver parts dont seem to have any spots? or do i get my money back and buy a different make? If so which one? everyone seems to say that the bachs are the best!!!! But deffinatley not a besson if the cornets and horns are anything to go by..... HELP :roll: :?
Hmmm i know of the problem you're having Tara.
When my band got a lottery grant, i chose to get a Courtois pro flugel over the strad (as i already had one). About 5 months after,the plating started getting black pit marks and even started to wear away to reveal brass!!!! (it's silverplated by the way!). It was sent back and was replated where it had gone. But every single place where i put my hands, and around the water keys etc. has gone pitted etc. Not very good when you've just payed £1500 for it!!
The problem is that the plating is very thin. It looks very good quality plating- if only there was a little more of it!!! :lol:
The PH of my hands is very dodgy and so does cause wear very easily and so that is partly why.
I never had a problem with my Bach though. I think it's about 10 years old now (before they started churning them out for lottery grants!) and nothing ever went wrong with it.
The Courtois however is a fantastic instrument despite the poor plating on mine, it's the best flugel i've played and i've played a smith-watkins!!! intonation is fantastic!! And so if you can't get yours sorted try it out.
The strads are great flugels though and as i said, mine served me fine and i had no problems and wouldn't of swapped had we not got a lottery grant!
If you decide to get it replated then buy a valve guard. There's no specific flugel one but i use a trumpet one by vincent bach as it is velcro and so fits them fine. You can buy them from John Myatts for £7.40 i think.

But wash it first because the leather dye marks your instrument a bit :)
This will stop your skin coming into contact with the plate which is probably what is causing the damage.

Hope this helps.

It's correct ....Bach flugels over the last decade are not up to the standard previously manufactured. I bought a Strad in 1988 and it's certainly a better instrument than the Strad bought by the band five years ago. Try and get your money back :roll: Buying new from America is well worth checking out whilst the pound is so strong. Check out this site for information on different flugels. Guide.html