Reply To: Which instrument for a cheap try-out?
The first refinish, in black, lasted about a year, with me playing that melodica on almost a daily basis and usually without a mouthpiece. It didn’t look bad when some blue started showing through on edges and corners. It isn’t hard to redo it , say, annually. But I fund that a sticky feeling was somewhat of a problem with the later refinishes, though I had longer drying times and polished up with auto waxes. Now when I play the silver-gold one, I usually have a micro-cloth in hand (the yellow kind used on autos) and give it a bit of a rub down. If you’re performing this could be part of your act, like Louis Armstrong’s hankerchief, and handy when you work up a sweat.
The blue looks better in person, in my opinion. And if you really dig a melodica, you start to like the color.