I told you it was a long story. O.K. - Here goes
Around 1972-1973 when I was on the road, I stumbled upon a Selmer Mark VI baritone sax in a pawn shop - I think in Memphis. It had been overhauled with new lacquer and it looked great. It was an early 60s model. Old horn, good overhaul, good price - I got lucky. It was exactly what I was looking for when I walked into the pawn shop, and I loved the horn.
Fast forward 20 years. I played that bari with everybody - Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Jaco Pastorius. I played it every night. It looked like hell, but it still played great.
I didn't want to buff the horn again, but it was time to do a LOT of work on my baritone.
I have a 1928 Buescher straight alto that was finished at the factory in green Duco enamel (not lacquer.) It is in very good condition and plays vey well.
I decided to finish the Selmer baritone like the old Buescher straight alto - in enamel. I didn't have to buff the instrument because I could remove the old lacquer with chemicals. The horn didn't need to be shiny, because enamel is opaque. It just had to be very clean.
I tested sveral enamel finishes to see what was best for resisting chips, scratches and wear. I settled on Rustoleum. Today, there are acrylic finishes that are better, but this was 1990.
First I polished and lacquered the keys, body ferrules, strap ring, key guards, and bodyguards and braces in clear lacquer. This required masking off the areas to be lacquered, polishing, cleaning and lacquering all the "shiny" spots.
Then, I masked off all the "shiny" stuff, and shot the red enamel finish on the neck, upper bow, body, and bell before they were assembled. Enamel takes some time to "cure" so I did all the color just before I went on vacation, When I returned, the enamel had dried for a week. I had red body parts, gold lacquered keys, gold inside the bell, and gold highlights on the body of the saxophone.
If it isn't obvious by now, this whole operation was a giant pain. I'll never do it again.
Anyway, after vacation, I repadded the saxophone with waterproof pads and oversize resonators. It turned out great. It's still my best baritone. I have to keep after the red finish so that it looks nice, and it still does look nice.
Is there a difference in sound between the lacquer finish and the enamel finish? In my opinion, not much. The horn plays better than ever now, but I attribute that to a very careful overhaul, excellent Prestini pads waterproofed a/la Saul Fromkin with polyurethane, large Selmer screw-on resonators, and no short-cuts.
For practical purposes, colored finishes are silly. Clear lacquer looks best a few years later when the finish starts to wear. Buy a horn to play instead of trying to be a media star. I was only trying to avoid buffing my sax a second time.