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the slides on my tuba are sliding out while i play...

i am using Hetman # 8 on them and they still slide out slow...

what is a good fix for this until i can get it to a shop to have the slides expanded...


thanks for your time guys,

E

You may want to try some anhydrous lanolin as a slide lube. Thin with valve oil until you get the consistency you require.

Axle grease might be gunky enough to slow things down.

USStuba04 wrote:the slides on my tuba are sliding out while i play...

i am using Hetman # 8 on them and they still slide out slow...

what is a good fix for this until i can get it to a shop to have the slides expanded...


thanks for your time guys,

Eric

Have you tried Vasoline? This has worked for me in the past. Pete

BAT boy wrote:NOT to always chime in sounding like a repair geek or anything,Ive tried both Of the suggestions and they have both helped. BUT If you want your slides to be normal and look proper, go to a repair tech and have him use an expander on the slides that are bothering you.
They will fit more snug and still be in great alignment. I used to rig up my horns until one day I thought geeze itd be nice if things were the way they were supposed to be. Unless your local repair guru is a crook you should be able to get off for cheap.

It may be cheap, but that doesn't make it right. If this is your primary horn, better to have him have the slides plated instead of stretched.

My local repairman told me putting a SLIGHT small little ding at the tip of the slides will help. Any truth to that?

tubaaron wrote:My local repairman told me putting a SLIGHT small little ding at the tip of the slides will help. Any truth to that?

A ding--as in a dent? I'd find another repair person. I suppose a strategically placed dent might also improve intonation, but I'm not about to try it.

On occasion, I've flared the end of a slightly-too-loose slide by using a tapered mandrel on the very tip. But it's just a temporary fix--eventually the slightly protruding tip of the inner slide will wear away and you'll be back where you started. At least no permanent harm done.

However, expanding the inner slide along its length using something that looks like a miniature version of this:



results in a slide with lots of not-so-nice ripples along its length that are almost impossible to put right.

Better to have the slide plated, even if it's only with copper.

try going to your local hardware store and buying a bottle of oil treatment. Any brand really, I use STP. It's very thick and will make your slides move only when you want them too. It moves a little slow, but I use that in conjunction with valve oil, and it seems to work well for me.

Hetman's USG (Ultra Slide Grease) #9, VERY thick and sticky, solved my loose slide problem.

Make sure it is not a slide that YOU may need to push/pull for intonation reasons later on!
(otherwise, it may be just about right... )

TOO

trulvious wrote:TOO

You beat me two it.

For a quick fix, until you get to a shop, grab a bassoonist and get some of their reed wire. It's brass (or at least brass colored) so it doesn't look as ghetto as a rubber band. Plus, it won't drag your slide in. The only problem is, if you go sharp, you're in trouble.

Charlie Goodman wrote:

trulvious wrote:TOO

You beat me two it.

You tew...

trulvious wrote:TOO

I think we all "new" what he meant "too" say.