Trombone Clinic Info
Bathtub Cleaning!
This is a guide of Do's and Don'ts for giving your instrument a bath.
Things you need: tub, water, plain dawn dishsoap and a snake
1. Fill the tub with cold/room temp water. (Do not use hot water!)
2. Remove your inner slide, submerge your outer slide in the water. Remove your tuning slide(s) from the bell section and put those in the water as well.
3. Pour water through your inner slide tubes, but do not submerge the inner slide. The inner slide has felts in the cork barrels, if these get soaked/wet you may throw off the alignment of your slide lock or create a moldy situation if they are not dried out. After you have poured water through, put some dawn dishsoap on your snake and run the snake through both tubes and rinse. Set your inner slide on a towel to dry.
4, Continue to use your dawn dishsoap on the snake to clean out your tuning slides and outer handslide and set these on the towel to dry as well.
5. If you have an F-attachment/rotor do not submerge it in water, bell sections without a rotor can be submerged and snaked like everything else.
6. reassemble everything with fresh tuning slide grease/slide grease and oils
**This is not a replacement for a professional clean, but if you keep up with this cleaning a couple of times per month you will need much less maintenance and repairs!
Professional Clean Before and After Photos
Why switch to Synthetic Oils/Lubricants?
There are two main types of oils for brass instruments. Petroleum based oils and Synthetic oils. Never mix the two. Mixing them will cause your valves to seize.
Every individual has a different body chemistry, so some oils are better for some players than others.
In general though, try to stick with a synthetic oil as much as possible. Synthetic oils evaporate cleanly. Leaving almost no residue behind.
Petroleum based oils leave behind a dusty/ashy residue and build up. If you prefer a petroleum based oil, keeping up with cleanings is a MUST.
There are many different types of each out there, If one isn't quite right for you, try a different one. That chemical make up may not be the right one for your body chemistry.
How do I restring my rotor?
This is a page out of a brass repair book that perfectly depicts the process of restringing a rotor. If you need help or clarification you're always welcome to stop by the shop for more help!
