Performance Curses.....

[windshieldbug]

Safety Tip: Next time, make sure the "valve oil" bottle doesn't say 'Super Glue' or have a narrow, pointed cap before you proceed...

[Kevin Hendrick]

... at rehearsal, my valves were working perfectly, none were sticking, they were all moving like the wind. So, just for the heck of it, just before (literally 3 minutes) we went on stage to perform, I had oiled my valves. I get on stage, and just as we start, I check my valve, and push all of them down, and they didnt come back up.

There's an old saying that may apply here -- "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." If everything's going well, it might be wise to just let it be.

[Charlie Goodman]

Yeah, if it happens EVERY time, you're doing something wrong.


Or maybe you're cursed. WooooOOOOOOooooOOOOOOO!!

[windshieldbug]

Or maybe the band's cursed, and you're just the mechanism of that curse... gggggggggaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhgggggggggaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhgggggggggaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh

[oldbandnerd]

Maybe Chris has a valve Gremlin !!!

[windshieldbug]

Maybe Chris has a valve Gremlin !!!

Better that than an AMC Gremlin...

[windshieldbug]

or Pacer...

Ron Artest in a tuba... now THAT'S scary!

[Rick F]

Chris;
I had the same thing happen at our fall concert in October. My valves had been a little slow previously. I had been waiting to try some Hetmans Classic that our director was going to bring to me. He brought it to the concert. I hurriedly oiled up during warm up and my valves got worse! Worst performance Ive had in a while. Now I do ALL of my oiling at least a day beforehand. The Hetmans is great, my valves work fine if I dont overdo it!

Glen Wells

Hi Glen,

I gave a bottle of Hetman's Light piston valve oil to Fred Dart (was solo euph in the USAF Band in late 50's under Col. Howard). Fred's still playing on his Besson euph from the 50's. I thought he would need the Hetman's classic, but the thinner oil is working very well for him.

[windshieldbug]

must... play... low... brass...

[Dan Satterwhite]

I'll second what Bloke had to say about food. I toured for years with a not quite so famous but equally busy brass group, and had quite a lot of problems with the first valve on my Yamaha 822 F. I must have tried every oil under the sun, and had decided that it was just "those damn Yamaha valves" but it never occurred to me that deli trays and Concert Association pot luck was causing the problem. Since getting off the road and not eating a big plate of chicken casserole before concerts, I've had very little problems with my valves.

Dan

former tubist
Dallas Brass

[quinterbourne]

Don't forget to take all your valves out every few weeks (at least) and rinse all the crap off of them. Also run something through your valve casings (top to bottom, after removing bottom valve caps). Next, oil up your valves... but don't put different kinds of valve oils on there in between valve cleanings. If you want to try out a new type of valve oil, make sure to get all of the old oil outta there first.

[hbcrandy]

I believe that Hettmann is a synthetic (non-petrolium-based) product. When synthetic lubricants first came on the market, some of them had warnings to completely clean your valves/slides of any petrolium-based lubricant because the synthetic would gum-up your valves/slides if mixed with a petrolium-based product. Look into this before switching to a synthetic lubricant.

[Northern]

If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it does break.