Eclipsehornplayer

Clean them, with what? And what kind of snake should I scour the woods for?

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Eclipse MHY Bb Trumpet with interchangable leadpipes
Bach 229 25A C Trumpet
Getzen Capri Bb Cornet
GR & Monette mouthpieces

frank

Tootsall

I'm with Frank on the REKA kit. In fact, they are mandatory with an Eclipse if you want to have a hope of getting the leadpipe clean. Problem is, it costs as much in shipping as in price to buy them from US and no dealers in Canada. I think I'll toss a couple in the suitcase this summer while I'm in Germany.

Chuck, this one's for you:

Billy B

CLR cut 20:1 with water does a good job. Clean the valves separately.

Solar Bell

Billy B wrote:
Whoa!!

You're a lot braver than I.

-cw-

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Chuck Willard
The Willard of Oz

"Don't be afraid to see what you see."
Ronald Reagan

Derek Reaban

OK Manny. I feel like an even bigger idiot, but I’m glad I finally realized what I did to my horn.

When I attended the ITG Conference in 2004, I stopped by the Monette room to try the new Prana mouthpiece. When they looked at my horn they told me that my bell was bent. Sure enough, looking at it, I could see the subtle bend to the right. I’m using a Wolfpack bag that was designed for the horns, and I theorized at the time that I had made a hard stop in my car and heard my bag roll in the trunk. I was sure this was a bag issue.

A week before Christmas this year I played a Cantata at my Church. It had been quite a while since I cleaned my horn and this show had lots of mute changes. I end up pulling my slide out just a little for all of my mutes (intonation). Well on Saturday morning (the dress rehearsal) my slide was a little stiff and I had all of those mute changes. Saturday evening (the first service where we played the Cantata) I noticed that my bell was bent down (a good 5-7 degrees).

Aaagggghhh!

I couldn’t believe that my horn had been damaged, and for the life of me I couldn’t remember anything that had happened to my instrument between the morning rehearsal and the evening service. Then I started thinking about all those mute changes and the stiff slide. I had unknowingly bent my own bell! Thinking back, I remember having a stiff slide on several occasions prior to my ITG outing, so I’m sure that I had done the same thing several years earlier.

I guess the good news is that my case is doing its job properly. Now I just need to make sure that I wash my horn more regularly and keep that slide lubricated (I ended up being my own worst enemy with that soft bell and a dirty horn).

I’ll have to call the shop today and see if they can fit in a bell repair. I’ll have to borrow a horn from my instructor while I’m out of commission with my horn, but it if comes back playing better than ever, I’ll be in for a real treat in 2006 (almost like getting a new horn).

I will definitely follow this advice (my resolution for 2006 is to keep my horn clean and in good working order).

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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona

gregc

One word.
GUILTY!

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Greg Condemi

A.N.A. Mendez

Any of you use baking soda? Been using it for years, just mix up a luke warm solution and pour it through slowly then rinse. Both time exercising the valves, then towel off, remove valves and dry, then oil em up and off you go. The baking soda leaves no residue and leaves the horn sweet smelling. Of couse this is a maintanance type clean, the real deal needs to be done every month.''

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(Above) Alexanders ragtime band-circa 1960

"Baby, I'm already the coolest, and the hippist, now you want me to be on time too?" Buddy Love

"We appointed all our worst generals to command our armies, and our best generals to edit our newspapers." Robert E. Lee

trumpetmike8

Do any of you swab your horn out everyday? After each day of playing my horn, I swab out the lead pipe and bellpipe. Is that overkill? Also I never have noticed the playability of my horns to go away. I guess I just clean to often.
Happy New Year,
Michael

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Eclipse MY
Bach LR180
Conn 1B-SP46
Bach TR200
Antoine Courtois

Manny Laureano

That's a great habit to get into. You're to be commended.

ML