Also, same question concering a 24" marching bass drum. Beyond having to retune the heads tomorrow, will the cold hurt the drum?
I know, as the band director I would never tell the students to leave their horns out in the cold like that but . . .
Fiberglass sousa vs. cold temps
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Chadtuba
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Fiberglass sousa vs. cold temps
I have to make a trip tomorrow that sadly requires me to take the school's Reynolds fiberglass (or whatever it is made of) sousaphone. I have a tiny apartment with lots of stairs so I was wondering if leaving the sousa in the truck overnight with single digit temps predicted would hurt it? I'll bring it in if I need to but life would be so much easier if I could leave it in the cold for one night.
Also, same question concering a 24" marching bass drum. Beyond having to retune the heads tomorrow, will the cold hurt the drum?
I know, as the band director I would never tell the students to leave their horns out in the cold like that but . . .
Also, same question concering a 24" marching bass drum. Beyond having to retune the heads tomorrow, will the cold hurt the drum?
I know, as the band director I would never tell the students to leave their horns out in the cold like that but . . .
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Chadtuba
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- Joined: Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:00 pm
- Location: Minnesota
Re: Fiberglass sousa vs. cold temps
I suppose I should also specify that these would most likely have to ride in the back of the truck tomorrow for 4 hours each way with temps in the mid-teens.
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Chadtuba
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- Location: Minnesota
Re: Fiberglass sousa vs. cold temps
Got home and decided (before reading bloke's post) to go ahead and be safe and brought them inside. I should be able to put one of them in the extra-cab of the truck when I leave but they both won't fit. since the sousaphone doesn't have a case and the bass drum does the sousaphone will probably get that privilege. I'm also not sure if the bass drum in the case will fit in the 3rd door of the truck so in the bed it goes under the tonneau cover.
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SousaSaver
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Re: Fiberglass sousa vs. cold temps
I would like to second Bloke's comments. Especially regarding the bell.
Another issue to think about is the tuning slides. The grease used on musical instruments is very particular about temperature, and doesn't particularly like single digit weather. If you were to leave them out overnight, it wouldn't be impossible to move them, but it might be quite difficult.
Lanolin based greases get more firm in colder weather, and easily break down as they get hot. You can put a container of lanolin in a microwave for a 90 seconds and it will turn to liquid.
Some people use wheel bearing grease, which works for some people, but then your horn will smell like jiffy lube, which might be appealing to some.
Oh well...
Another issue to think about is the tuning slides. The grease used on musical instruments is very particular about temperature, and doesn't particularly like single digit weather. If you were to leave them out overnight, it wouldn't be impossible to move them, but it might be quite difficult.
Lanolin based greases get more firm in colder weather, and easily break down as they get hot. You can put a container of lanolin in a microwave for a 90 seconds and it will turn to liquid.
Some people use wheel bearing grease, which works for some people, but then your horn will smell like jiffy lube, which might be appealing to some.
Oh well...