How often do you bathe your horn?

hurricane_harry · Post by **hurricane_harry** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:02 pm

In high school, on a pretty regular basis (maybe once ever month or two) I would give my tuba a bath and snake it out. Ever since I bought my 1291 I've been kind of afraid to bathe it I.E. dropping a tuba full of water, valve falling off of the countertop ect.

To the pro's and college players on here:

1. do you bathe and snake out your horn?

2. If so how often to you bathe it and how much do you play?

and to the brass repairmen on here
3. what it the best method in doing this to ensure I get a thorough cleaning without any harm to my horn? (I have a raw brass leadpipe)

Thanks!

Getzeng50s · Post by **Getzeng50s** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:20 pm

1) yes I do

2) I play 2-5 hours daily and bathe it once a year and get a chem clean every 2 years

Thats Just me.

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 12:29 pm

(just me, and I have several horns to worry about)

1. Yes
2. Usually whenever I have to put back on something that fell off or at least once a year.
3. I use a big trombone brush, and really only worry about the mouthpipe to tuning slide. I also periodically run light oil into the receiver, swirl, and drain it all completely before I use it again just to keep things good and coated.

bttmbow · Post by **bttmbow** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:59 pm

Man! That's WAY too personal!

Kidding aside, I think tubas that are played a lot need a good bit of cleaning more frequently, especially if you don't brush yer g'darn teef before playing!

Chemical cleaning is usually recommended yearly, for some reason...

There is also a sonic cleaning that can be done.

The only reason I responded, though, was for writing the first sentence.
Sorry!

Casey Tucker · Post by **Casey Tucker** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:48 am

1.) Yes
2.) I bathe it every 6 months. i do it mainly to change out old slide grease and clean out the valve section. I use valve oil that has silicon and if i don't eventually clean the valves out they'll gum up. i do more of a "light bathing routine" every 6 months. every year i get it chem cleaned. by light bathing i mean a soak in warm sudsy water, bottle brush valves and casings, wipe of outside of slides and inner tubes and re-apply grease, snake the individual slides/leadpipe and to finish some sort of shining method (this depends on the time and amount of money i have).

Tubaing · Post by **Tubaing** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:19 pm

bttmbow wrote:....especially if you don't brush yer g'darn teef before playing!

That reminds me of the person who played my school's bass bone before me; He'd play it and sometimes when the band director would talk and wasn't looking, he'd take a bite of his sandwich.

I had a heck of a time playing it the first time.

I found it to be much safer to play after I washed it.

Wyvern · Post by **Wyvern** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 4:11 am

I wash through the pipes from the main tuning slide to the mouthpiece with warm soapy water once per year, snaking the leadpipe as the water runs through so any muck will wash out rather than into the valves.

I will do this process by standing on its bell in the bath, putting funnel in where I have pulled out the main tuning slide.

If at all possible, I will clean my teeth before playing to minimise any bits of food blowing in.

In the UK chemical cleaning does not seem to be as prevalent as in the USA.

josh wagner · Post by **josh wagner** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:31 am

1.) Yes
2.) yeah, it's fun just take a couple of hours out of the day disassemble my tuba give it a nice little clean up, kind of like taking it to the day spa. But I bathe it about once a year usually depends on time and how much i play and how bad it gets, as far as chem clean, i really haven't chem cleaned one of my tubas...so i would have to say no.