Cotton

I'm not a big fan of garage sales but happened to be working in front of one today that had a cornet. Long story short I bought the old Holton Collegiate for under 10 bucks. The valves work fairly well but all the slides and the top and bottom caps are stuck. What advice can you give me for freeing these up? I can take it to a shop but thought it might be more fun (I might be loosing it on this one) to work on it myself. All help will be greatly appreciated.

jazzsolotrumpet

I have never seen a musical instrument for sale in a garage sale or antique shop. I must be looking in the wrong places.

Go NYTC.
-Matthew Gill

trump321

I have found several instruments at antique stores and the like, and many of them have the same issues you describe here. I have found that if you need to loosen the slides and/or valve caps that if you use WD-40 it may come loose. If that doesn't work, try coating the offending slides with penetrating oil and let it soak in overnight. Be sure to do this in a ventilated area - it stinks!

You may also try free it by wrapping a rag around the slide and pulling the rag. I've had good luck with both methods.

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Alan Dismukes

Be careful if you use the rag technique to pop those slides out. You don't want to use too much force lest you damage the tubing. Try letting WD40 or penetrating oil soak a while first. I have loosened some slides this way before. The best option is to let a brass instrument repair man do it.

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1974 Bach ML 37 Strad Trumpet
1928 Buescher Bb/A Cornet
1947 Conn 12A Coprion Cornet
1914 Holton New Proportion Cornet

trump321

I agree with this. If you want to try the non-messy way first (i.e. rag method), DO NOT try too hard! It's much safer to use oil first.

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bigtiny

You can also use big shoe laces, but don't yank! Apply even pressure when pulling the slide and if it doesn't seem like it's going to come, then don't try to force it, or you might just collapse the slide....

bigtiny

dizzyizzy

Trying to clarify some of the above...

Its been my experience....soak the thing in WD40 for a day...just for the heck of it (makes things much easier anyway)...then the BIGGER the rag the better, (i.e. old bath towel). You WANT to spread out the pressure of the rag around the tubing. I would think that while a big shoe lace might work, you are concentrating much more pressure in a smaller zone. By spreading the presure EVENLY throughout the larger area...you "should" move the slide in its entireity, rather than possibly "pinching" in an area.

dizzyizzy

Cotton

Thanks for the replies so far. My first post was right after work and then had to leave for another obligation and didn't have much time with my new find. According to the serial # it's a 1950-51 model. The finish is about 50%, there is only three small dings, and a small crease in the bell. I used the rubber thing my wife uses to open jars with and got the valve caps loose. The pistons look pretty decent as far as wear but everything needs a real good cleaning. Couldn't resist, so a little oil and my mouthpiece and it plays real well for the shape it's in. I may let my local shop handle the slides, I guess I'll sleep on that one. Thanks again.

Brassmonkey

To loosen slides that are stuck, the penetrating oil is a good idea but refrain from wrapping anything around the tubing to tug on it. If you have never done it before, that much force could easily damage the horn. The best way (told to me by a trusted brass repair man) is to tap the tubing over and over with a small rawhide or wooden mallet. I've used a drum stick before with great success. If it won't move by pulling with your hand, just keep at it. You must be patient. If after a couple of days of applying penetrating oil and consistent tapping you have no results, you can also try applying heat. I've used a bunsen (sp?) burner and that worked fine. Again you must be careful. If you get the metal too hot you can melt some of the solder that's holding the horn together and tubing can come apart. I've yet to find a slide that won't move after the above treatment.

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"...remember that whatever you do in life, 90 percent of it is half mental." - Yogi Berra

Patric_Bernard

Tapping it definatly doesn't seem like a good idea. Brass is a very soft metal, and even the lightest taps can dent it. If theres any way you can get some ice water into the slide, try that. Cold Temperatures shink tubing. After you get the ice water in there enough to get the whole slide nice and cold, apply small amounts of heat to the outside. It will only give you a clearence of about .0001, but hey, a clearance is better than none at all. Hopefully that will help you.

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