Caring for your instrument!
Senior Band Musical Director, Andrew Whitaker, gives advice on caring for your instrument.
Valved Instrument Care
It is neccesary that players should keep their instrument clean and in good repair, not only in the interest of maintenance but also for general hygiene.
Some of theunneccesary repairwork can be attributed to the following:
1. Moisture, causing oxidation and corrosion on metals.
2. Perspiration from hands and saliva, both caustic and detrimental.
3. Lack of lubrication.
4. Foreign matter inside the instrument.
5. Wrong handling of the instrument.
When cleaning the instrument...REMEMBER
1. Do not drop or dent the valves
2. Valves are not interchangable, take out one at a time for oiling, but during major cleaning of the instrument place them in such a way that they can be returned to the correct casing.
3. Do not force valves into casings, locate the guide on the side of the valve and find the guide slot inside the valve casing, line them up and put in the valve (if the valve does not go "home" seek advice).
4. Wipe clean valves with a soft cloth, add water or valve oil - sparingly.
5. The inside of the valve casing can be cleaned with a bottle brush or cotton bud. Use a little liguid detergent and water to clean. Rinse out well.
6. Remove the bottom cap. If it is stiff, spray it with a freeing agent such as WD40. Wash the bottom cap as this collects dirt that drops from the
valve. Dry thoroughly and oil the thread with some valve oil before replacing the
cap.
7. When removing slides, depress the corresponding valve.
8. Clean the old grease with paper towel soaked in lighter fluid. Clean inside the slides with water and detergent (a slide brush can be purchased from music shops to help with this). Reapply grease and replace tuning slides.
9. Most student trumpets are coated with lacquer so don’t be tempted to clean it
with metal polish, as this will wear the lacquer away. Just wipe it over with an
impregnated cloth specifically designed for the job.
10. Always keep the shank of the mouthpeice and its receiver clean, as it is more lilely to get stuck if dirty.
If the mouthpiece does get stuck don’t try too hard to remove it as you can easily
damage the stays that support the lead pipe. The band has an extractor which can be used to remove the mouthpiece.
11. Always drain water from the instrument after use.
12. Please note that some oils are toxic. Keep out of childrens reach.
Each week...
1. Run cold water through the instrument, depress the valves. This should clean out dust and food particles etc.
2. Remove all slides and drain off water from the instrument. Dry the slides, add a little vaseline to them before replacing.
3. Dry the outside of the instrument throughly.
Every 6 to 8 weeks...
1. Remove all valves and slides and soak everything including the mouthpiece in a luke warm solution of water and liquid detergent.
2. Wash, rinse and wipe dry the insides of the valve casings...be careful not to scratch it.
3. Rinse and dry the valves with a soft cloth.
4. Oil the valves or use water and replace them in their casings.
5. Clean the slides as suggested.
6. Apply vaseline to the slides and replace into the instrument. Wipe off excess vaseline with a cloth.
7. Clean the mouthpiece throughly, rinse and dry it. A special mouthpiece brush can be bought to help with this.
8. Dry the instrument throughly.
If you have any doubts please ask for advice instruments cost a lot of money.
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