CARE OF YOUR INSTRUMENT

PREVENTATIVE BRASS MAINTENANCE

Martin Lukas

A guide to maximising the life of your brass instruments and extending the time between services.

THE GOLDEN RULES

The best maintenance is preventative maintenance. It costs nothing, makes the instrument more pleasant to play and avoids unnecessary trips to the repairer. The following golden rules serve as a guide to maximising the life of your brass instruments and extending the time between services.

Rule 1 : No food or drink (apart from water) when playing.

Contrary to the beliefs of some players, brass instruments do not need to be fed. Pizza, pie, lollies, chips, sugary drinks etc are the enemy of all brass instruments. Remember, much of what you blow into a horn, stays there. Food particles adhere to the walls of tubing, your saliva then saturates these spots and begins to eat through the tubing from the inside out. This often results in "red rot". Red rot occurs most commonly on mouthpipes, the first tuning slides, trombone outer slides and crooks. These red spots are technically known as "dezincification", where the alloy is being eaten through. Saliva will do this slowly over time. There is no need to accelerate the rotting process many fold with food particles. Remember, saliva is intended to help digest food. Poor habits will cause saliva to digest your instrument sooner rather than later. Food particles encourage mould to grow. Mould growing on pistons causes stuttering, sluggish action and eventually pistons will bind. Mould will also bind and freeze tuning slides. This green stuff is alive, why help it grow by feeding it ? If you wish to be really kind to your instrument and have the time, before playing brush your teeth or at least rinse your mouth.

Rule 2 : Oil pistons and lubricate trombone slides before, during and after playing

Oil performs the obvious task of lubricating pistons, rotors and slides. Oil also fills the gap between casings and pistons. By coating pistons after playing you are diluting the saliva and forming a barrier between the pistons and saliva. This extends piston/rotor life greatly by preventing pock marks that are caused by saliva puddling and eating away the pistons and casings. A common mistake is to use too little oil, over-oiling will not harm the instrument - too little oil will cause unnecessary friction. On trombones, the same principle applies. Use slide oil or trombone cream and water spray. Anything is better than nothing. 

Rule 3 : Move all slides and caps every time you play

Prevent tuning slides and valve casing caps from seizing by moving them a little every time you play. Grease slides regularly. A communal tub of plain auto grease in the band-room will suit this purpose and be worth its weight in gold in terms of the number of tuning slides it saves from seizing. Commercial tubes of slide grease or even common Vaseline work. Almost anything is better than nothing.

Rule 4 : Store instruments safely

If an instrument is going to be put into storage, remove the slides and wrap them in paper/plastic. They can't get stuck if they are not in the horn . If this is impractical, at least grease the slides thoroughly and leave them as far out of their sleeves as the case safely allows.

Rule 5 : Nothing touches the instrument but your hands

Only use hand pressure to try and remove stuck slides, mouthpieces and valve caps (mouthpiece puller excepted). If it doesn't move, LEAVE IT ALONE. You would be amazed at the damage, both mechanical and cosmetic caused by well meaning individuals using screw drivers, pliers, hammers, wooden spoons, vices, kitchen cutlery, large mallets, lumps of wood etc. Examples of unintentional damage are

• Wooden spoon handle through the base of a piston

• Permanent plier and vice marks on mouthpieces and valve caps

• Twisted mouthpipes and broken solder joints

• Dented and out-of-round U-tubes on tuning slides

• Egg shaped valve casings, causing stuck pistons

Repairs attempted at home or in the garage can easily create a variety of costly problems. Also, all bands and school music programs should own their own mouthpiece puller. Knowing that a mouthpiece puller is readily available will prevent band members attempting to remove mouthpieces in any other way. 

Rule 6 : Clean your mouthpiece every week

Weekly mouthpiece cleaning lessens the amount of grime, food particles etc from entering the main body of the instrument. Weekly cleaning also maintains the correct internal diameter of the mouthpiece shank. Brush your mouthpiece with a proper brass mouthpiece brush in warm soapy water. Flush with clean water. Check inside to ensure that the surfaces are mirror smooth. If there are still trees and shrubs growing inside, soak the mouthpiece overnight in vinegar and repeat the brushing and flushing process. Vinegar will dissolve lime and scale deposits whereas soapy water will only remove fats, oils, sugars and food. All players should own a brass mouthpiece brush (less than $5 each) and keep it stored in the instrument case.

Rule 7 : Don't Use Gig Bags

Gig bags are known as the "repairer's friend" because they only provide an illusion of protection. On the other hand, solid traditional wood or moulded plastic cases actually do protect an instrument. No matter how careful you try to be, inevitably you or someone else will accidentally stand on, trip or fall over an instrument in a gig bag. So, avoid the heartache of seeing your instrument in a gig bag becoming crushed and squashed; use a solid case.

AUTHOR DETAILS

This article has been written by Martin Lukas, the proprietor of Wombat Woodwind and Brass. Wombat Woodwind and Brass provides a full range of woodwind and brass instrument sales and repair services to customers in all suburbs of Melbourne and throughout Victoria .

Martin holds formal qualifications in band instrument repair, music performance and music education and has twenty years experience as an instrumental music teacher and high school band director. Also, for some years, Martin was the chief repairer in a major Chicago , USA music store; responsible for the maintenance of the store's 2500 rental instruments.

This article reflects on Martin's accumulated experience as a qualified, experienced repairer and music teacher.