What exactly is it?

[BopEuph]

So, About 7 months ago or so, I put my horn in to get the sonic clean done. I played it for a few weeks, and got called off to a cruise line to play bass for six months. I brought the horn along, but I still barely played it. The horn sat in for about three to four months in the middle of the contract collecting dust. My gig bag was grey by the time I pulled it out at the end of the contract. I still brushed my teeth every time before playing it, save a few times I came from the crew bar with a few beers in me and played.

Then I get home, I get right back into hardcore practice, anywhere between 4-6 hours a day. About two weeks into it, my valves were slow, and the water was coming out green. I gave it a bath, and the horn was as dirty as it would have been if I had been playing the thing that whole time and never gave it a bath! It was dirtier than I have ever let it get to.

So, I'm guessing that green crap isn't mostly food particles, but something else. What is it, really? Is this stuff that actually grows while the horn sits?

Nick

[TubaCoopa]

Unfortunately, the dark dank interior of a tuba or euphonium are perfect breeding grounds for just about anything. (In fact, it is hypothesized that life on Earth sprung from a cosmic tuba's 4th valve slide) Being green, it sound like there was some sort of algae or something similar. A friend of mine had this problem where his valves were slow after not playing for a while, and when we went to put some oil on them, we discovered an entire algae system in the valve casing and in the actual valve. The little booger was about 5 inches long and was easily removed, but it sure was disgusting,

[imperialbari]

Unfortunately, the dark dank interior of a tuba or euphonium are perfect breeding grounds for just about anything. (In fact, it is hypothesized that life on Earth sprung from a cosmic tuba's 4th valve slide) Being green, it sound like there was some sort of algae or something similar. A friend of mine had this problem where his valves were slow after not playing for a while, and when we went to put some oil on them, we discovered an entire algae system in the valve casing and in the actual valve. The little booger was about 5 inches long and was easily removed, but it sure was disgusting,

Some tubas even grow coral reefs inside the leadpipe.

K

[Brucom]

1. I don't have that problem - my breath will kill anything.

or,

2. I don't put enough air into the horn for anything to grow.

[BopEuph]

That would really suck, since they've had my business since the mid-90s. I figured I could trust them. The horn plays like new now that I gave it a bath, though.

Nick

[Rick Denney]

The green slime may be green simply because it's sitting up against raw brass. I would not draw any organic conclusions from the color.

I'm not sure ultra-sonic cleaning will get rid of slime in all cases, and even if it loosens it, it might not all get washed out. In my experience, it takes real brushing to get the slime out of an instrument.

I can leave a bottle of shampoo sitting in the shower, which only gets sprayed with clean water, and it will get slimy after a while (no chlorination in our well water). That takes scrubbing to remove, too.

I have a small ultrasonic cleaner and have tried it on slimy piston valves, but haven't found it to be as quick or effective as one minute with a brush followed by a quick rinse.

Rick "squeaky clean" Denney

[Mike-ICR]

Ultrasonic cleaning works best when you need to clean something that is already almost clean. It is not a replacement for a good old fashion scrub! When I had access to a machine I usually used it to fallow a chem cleaning or just before lacquering. In my experience, ultrasonic cleaning won't even clean the lubricant off slides or from the inside of woodwind hinge rods.

[BopEuph]

I was always under the impression that the sonic cleaning included an acid bath as well. I figured that's how it worked. Guess not. So, then from now on, I should give it a bath after the cleaning? I figure a sonic clean every 5 years or so is a good time frame, and I still plan to give it a bath as needed.

Nick

[imperialbari]

Give it the bath FIRST. A chem clean would be better, since a good tech will give the horn's parts a thorough soap and water scrub-down as a part of the chemical cleaning process. The slime needs to be removed FIRST in all cases.

And it is ultrasonic and not sonic cleaning. Sonic cleaning might hurt your ears! Ultrasonic means above our hearing range. Probably better than, say, supersonic or hypersonic cleaning, which might make it a lot harder to use fast air at times.

A good subsonic cleaning is what my tubas need right now.

Why am I slightly doubting, where your subsonic embouchure sits?

K