Hetman’s valve oil

[Jewba98]

Is Hetman having a shortage nation-wide? Hickey’s, who I normally order from, listed Hetman’s Lubricant no. 1 as ‘long term back ordered from the manufacturer’, and the local music shops here in Cleveland have said they’ve had no luck with the brand. Anyone know what’s going on there?

Bonus question: has anyone switched to another brand they like? I know most get the job done fine but there are some pretty gnarly products out there

[ASmith]

It seem to be a compound issue according to their distributor. The company was sold and Joe Hetman retired. Also they were having trouble getting bottles due to the shipping bottleneck in the ports.

They are starting to ship again, but they are way behind.

I started using Ultra-Pure. Heck even the new Shires horns are shipping with Ultra-Pure Care Kits now instead of the Hetman kits.

[hubert]

Seems to be taken over by Meinlschmidt.
For products available look at Meinlschmidt website.
Hubert

[Yane]

I used Hetman’s until I discovered Alisyn as a substitute for Hetman 1 or 2, and Yamaha Classic as an even better oil for worn out valves than 3.

[Dan Tuba]

I started using Monster oil. It's great

[joshealejo]

I changed to Yamaha's oils for both pistons and rotors. Fast action, almost odorless, long lasting and very important, no white/green gunk anymore since left hetman.

[Michael Grant]

Used to use Hetman. Had the same green gunk one of the previous posters had. Couldn’t get rid of it no matter what I tried. Tried various brands then came across Resilience Oils (based on a Chris Olka video about it). Thought I’d give it a try and have been wowed by it. Best stuff I’ve used in the 48 years I’ve been playing.

https://www.resilienceoils.com/

[Jewba98]

I did recently order resilience oils off the recommendation of my studio mate after sampling his, still waiting on it though!

[Lee Stofer]

I had a conversation with Joe Hetman last week - he certainly is not retired, but busier than ever!
There has been a problem sourcing bottles, so he is switching to new bottles, and it will take some time to get
them in and fill orders. He thanked me for my patience, and said he will fill my most recent order as soon as he can.

Concerning serious green or white buildup within the valves, I have seen that happen for roughly 2% of my customers,
and is likely associated with body chemistry, diet, or both. None of us want nasty-looking gunk in our horns, and if you
have a better experience with some other lubrication, so be it. In my shop, I clean instruments to a very high standard,
thoroughly dry them, then use the appropriate Hetman lubricants so that they leave the shop in top playing condition.
When an instrument comes back to the shop with buildup in it, most often it has been played a lot, for a year or more,
and hasn't been cleaned once in that time. That said, the green or white buildup in that case easily washes off, and is
not eating into the brass, telling me that the instrument has been well-protected by the Hetman, and only needs to be
cleaned more often. When a tuba or euphonium has been cleaned and serviced with Hetman lubricants, regular cleaning
with brushes, Dawn dishwashing detergent, and a thorough rinsing is all that is necessary to keep it clean and fresh for a
long time.

I was at the dentist's office this morning, and saw a sign in the bathroom - "Only floss the teeth that you want to keep."
Apply that thought about maintenance to your horn. Only clean your instrument regularly if you want to keep playing it.

[PaulSchmidt]

I buy things like valve oil for a certain well-known brass band, and years ago we had settled on Hetman for all our lubricants (we supply such stuff, not the individual players, to avoid compatibility concerns). We typically buy in bulk, placing an order every few years. We decided to place a large order late in the summer of 2023, and emailed orders@hetman.com to get current pricing and availability. There was some delay before getting a response, but eventually I heard back, and they verified that at the moment they could only supply the large 'refill' pint bottles, not the smaller 'individual use' bottles. This was OK with us, since we typically just refill the small bottles anyway as needed.

When I emailed back to place my order, there was no reply for perhaps two weeks. I sent a few emails to follow up. Then I got a phone call from Joe Hetman, who apologized for the glitch in their response. Within a day or two, I received the final sales order, sent them our check, and they processed the order promptly. Today, October 20, 2023, I received several boxes full of Hetman pint bottles, spanning their entire product line.

In my phone discussion with Joe, I expressed our concern that perhaps he had closed down the business, or sold it, etc. He replied that no, he is not retired from this business and has not sold it, and it is still a going company.

I had separately communicated with Josef Meinlschmidt, who advised me that they had NOT taken over Hetman or their products, however their own line of similar instrument lubricants (branded JM) were indeed numbered to coincide with Hetman's viscosity numbering system. While talking to Joe, I asked if the JM was just a different brand of the same sourced oil; he replied that, no, they are unique products. When I had corresponded with Meinlschmidt, the person there said the same thing.

I write this to try and bring this thread up to date, and hopefully remove at least some of the speculation per my own recent experiences.

Paul Schmidt