Hello, I am looking for some help with my metal body clarinet that I just picked up. It was used by the band at Fort Meade SD. It's black. I mean, it's not patina. I haven't tried very hard to remove this blackness. I think that the horn body is probably brass as there are a couple chip like spots around the base of the bell that are gold colored. I am wondering if anyone has ever heard of the military treating their metal body clarinets with some sort of paint or something? I can post some pictures if that would be helpful. I was thinking at first it was just oxidation but now I really think it was painted with something and I don't want to get to soaking and find out it's coated and then have some sort of crazy mess on my hands. Thanks so much to anyone who can help me with this mystery.