blowmedown

Hi,

So glad to find this forum!

I visited my old trumpet for the first time since high school (20 years!) It's a Bach Stradavarius #37 and ... well, I didn't do alot of things I should have done in the last 20 years and it's not in so great shape. I was pretty depressed when I opened the case.

The first valve is sluggish, the second is frozen in the down position, and the third is frozen in the up position. When I say frozen I mean FROZEN, they won't budge a hair. Tuning slide and 3rd valve slide frozen. I tried the standard "bath" in warm soapy water, tons of valve oil, even some penetrating oil to no avail.

Brought it to a local music shop. They want $250 to free the valves and slides and another $50 to polish the trumpet. Yikes! They estimated 1.5 hours of work for the repair. I know they gotta make a living but I didn't expect that price! Is this typical for this type of repair?

Basically I just want to get the ol girl working again so I can share with my son (he's 4 and believe it or not he can get a nice sound through the thing! )

Willing to try home remedies. I read somewhere about trying a 50-50 vinegar bath overnight to help kill the lime deposits, is this a bad idea? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for any help.

stchasking

$250.00 is about right. 20 years of neglect equals $12.5 a year.

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"I was performing professionally at age 17 and have never had a real job." Allen Vizzutti

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uatrmpt

Assuming there are no dents, there could be a mineral bond holding fast between the valve and casing.

Contact Charlie Melk or Rich Ita (their websites can be googled). You might come out cheaper shipping it to them; however, if they quote a price that's similar to what the local price gave, then you can be sure what your local shop quoted is a fair price.

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--Matt--