Hey bobert....I just took the laquor off an 8h bell. i did the hole bell up to the support brace. I treated it with brass polish(cause you said that was good for the brass. I played it and i think that it sounds a little brighter. but it responds alot better. The question is do i want to do my getzin custom?????? humm it already has a thin wall bell so i dont think so. anyway just thaught id let you know.

if you have the disposable income do the getzen bell, because you can always order another one!

ive been thinking about stripping my King 2B, it has silver lacquer but im just going to get it gold plated later instead.

I would recomend purchasing another bell for the Getzen, maybe a used one off of eBay. Then strip the lacquer from that one and put it on your horn. If you like it, you can sell or strip the original bell. Otherwise, you won`t have ruined your instrument or wasted a great deal of money. The Getzen/Edwards thin bell has a .023 inch thickness, while the mid-weight is .025 and the heavy is .028. The difference is minimal, and I think stipping a thin bell would not be detrimental as long as care was used to not remove too much metal with the lacquer. The lacuer is generally about .007 inches thick, and it scratches off (with a buffer or sandpaper) much more easily because it is not chemically bonded to the instrument, unlike metal plating. If it was my horn, I would strip it, but if you aren`t too sure about it, I would reccomend a second bell to try it out with. Good luck.