Allman Music Musical Instruments: Trumpets. Cornets, Fluegel Horns

Care and Maintenance of Your New Instrument

Congratulations on your purchase of a very fine quality instrument. Your new horn can last you a lifetime and give you countless hours of enjoyment each time you play it. In order for your instrument to deliver its best performance, a few simple things need to be done. In order to keep your instrument in its peak working condition please observe the following tips:

1. Eating, drinking or chewing gum while playing can leave a residue in the valves and valve casing which will cause sluggish operation of the valves, which will require cleaning to correct. An accumulation of residue will also eventually affect the tonal quality of an instrument by the accumulation of food particles and sugar inside the tubing of the instrument. It is important to always rinse out your mouth before playing if you have been eating or drinking beverages.

2. The mouthpiece should be firmly seated in the receiver with a very slight twist. Do not force or hit the mouthpiece into place. This could cause the mouthpiece to stick and damage the receiver. If your mouthpiece becomes stuck, have a trained technician remove the mouthpiece for you using the correct tools.

3. Always pick up the instrument by the valve body, never handle the instrument by the bell or slides, as this will cause undue strain to the weaker parts of the instrument.

4. For the quickest valve action, never push the valves with the middle of the fingers. Always use the fingertips. The valves on your new trumpet are a very precise, close tolerance mechanism that allows for an airtight seal between the valve and the valve casing. Since each player has a slightly different angle of pressure as they play, the valves will need to break in to each person's individual playing touch. This may take 30 to 50 hours of playing time to seat in fully to your touch.

5. When carrying or playing the instrument in a downwards position, make sure that your ring finger is in the ring of the third valve expression slide so that it will not accidentally fall from the trumpet and be damaged. The 3rd valve slide stop screw will prevent the assembly from falling completely off of the trumpet and should always be screwed all of the way in.

6. Always clear the trumpet of excess water when done playing. Blow air (no need to buzz the mouthpiece) through the horn and open each water key while fingering the valves. Then tilt (don’t shake) the trumpet forward and back a few times and blow it out again. Wipe the exterior with a soft dry cloth and the trumpet is ready to go back in the case.

7. Use only 1 or 2 drops of a quality valve oil in each valve when needed. How often oil is needed depends upon the amount of time that the horn is played as well as the amount of time the horn sits idle. One application before each class or performance should be sufficient. Too much oil is worse than too little! The tolerances of the valves inside the casings are very small on a superior quality instrument. This means that there is not much more room for excessive oil. Oil does not compress and there is nowhere for it to go to get out of the way of the valve. For this reason over oiling can actually slow down the action of the valve, particularly on the upstroke when the valve only has the spring tension acting on it.

Cleaning, Lubrication and Maintenance

If the valves become sluggish or sticky remove each valve one at a time, wipe the valve down with a soft lint free cloth to remove old oil and contaminates. Visually inspect that the valve surface and ports are completely free of contaminates and lint. Next, to clean the inside of the casing, wrap the cloth around a cleaning rod or suitable stick and pass the cloth up through the valve casing in one direction. A "Chinese Chop Stick" makes an excellent improvised tool for this operation. Visually inspect the valve casing for any residual lint or debris, add 1 drop of oil to the valve and reassemble. Repeat this procedure for each of the other valves. It is very easy to leave more lint or contaminates in the trumpet than you clean out. A clean cloth, good lighting and careful visual inspection are key elements.

Flushing the instrument is necessary when a more thorough cleaning is required especially when the horn has become contaminated with food and/or sugar. It may be required only once or twice a year (or sometimes not at all) depending on the amount of use and care the instrument receives.

For this operation it will be necessary to completely disassemble the instrument. Remove the valves, bottom caps, valve slides and tuning slide and lay them aside. Remember which valves fit in each casing, as they are not interchangeable! The valves are generally stamped with a number and the casing closest to you when playing is the #1 casing. #2 casing is in the middle and #3 is the farthest away (on a 3 valve instrument). Do not disassemble the spring assembly of the valves. Soak the slides and mouthpiece in warm soapy water using mild dishwashing liquid such as Dawn or Palmolive. Never use automatic dishwasher or laundry detergent as it will attack the finish of the instrument and can cause severe corrosion of the trumpet. These slides can be cleaned more thoroughly with a snakelike brush that you can purchase at any music store. Rinse the parts with cold water, removing all soap and dry thoroughly.

The valves can be “dunked” in warm soapy water and the ports can be scrubbed out with the snake brush described above if needed. Avoid getting the felts and spring wet as they take more time and care to dry properly. Handle the valves very carefully as they can become scratched or dented easily.

The body of the trumpet can be held in the kitchen sink in a plastic basin and a few cups of warm soapy water can be poured through the bell. The casings and tubing can be scrubbed or swabbed out as needed and flushed with warm water. Rinse with cool water, tilt the trumpet in all directions to evacuate excess water and leave it in your dish rack to dry.

Note: If the instrument has a severe scale build up after several years of use, a professional "acid bath" may be required and should be performed by a competent instrument technician for you at a local music store.

Before reassembling the Trumpet coat slides with a thin layer of trumpet slide grease available from any music store. An excellent alternative is to use a 50-50 mixture of Vaseline and Lanolin available at your corner drugstore. The exterior of the instrument can be polished with a soft dry cloth. Never use any automobile cleaner/waxes on the trumpet finish. For Lacquer and Nickel-Plated finishes a soft cloth should be sufficient to restore luster although a “gloss finish care” cloth or a very small amount of non-wax furniture polish such as Lemon Pledge will help remove water spots and smudges. For Gold or Silver-Plated instruments use a silver polishing cloth, or for severe tarnish, a non-abrasive, fine silver polish. Never use Brasso, Never Dull or any polish that contains an abrasive on any instrument as it will remove the plating or finish from your trumpet.

Note: if the inner slides become discolored or corroded Brasso or Never Dull may be used, but only if the inner slide is not plated, other wise, use a silver polish on them.

Special care must be taken when cleaning the inside of the valve casings.

Use a soft clean lint free cloth and avoid pushing the cloth through with anything sharp or hard that might scratch the plating inside the valve casing. As mentioned earlier, a "Chinese Chop Stick" makes an excellent tool to wrap the soft cloth around for valve casing cleaning. Lubricate the valves with one drop of valve oil and replace them in their proper casing along with the bottom caps. It is vital that only one or two drops of oil at the most are used since over application of oil will cause the very close tolerance valves to become sluggish and difficult to play.

Re-assembly Tips

1. When reinstalling the slides take extra precautions to carefully align the slides so that they slide in easily. Never force the slides when reinserting them. This can bend or deform the slide and cause permanent damage to the instrument.

2. The bottom valve caps and top valve caps have very fine threads and are easily cross-threaded. Use diligent care when threading the caps back on the trumpet. Never force the caps onto the trumpet.

3. Each valve is unique. They are not interchangeable. Make absolutely sure that each valve is returned to its proper casing. Each valve has a nylon valve guide which insures the proper alignment of the valve ports with the ports in the valve casing in only one correct position. When removing the valves from the casings pay careful attention to the valve number and which direction the valve guide key is facing when it is removed. One side of the valve guide is wider than the other side. The narrower side fits into a vertical groove that is milled on the inside of the casing.

4. To reassemble the valves:

The best way to get the valves to line up correctly is to look inside of the valve casing for the vertical groove and line up the narrow side of the valve guide with the groove. Gently guide the valve into place without exerting any downward pressure on the valve at all except for it's own weight. Turn the valve gently in the casing 1/8th of a turn at a time until you hear a “click”. This “click” is the valve guide seating itself in its proper groove. The valve will then be perfectly aligned in the casing and the valve should not be able to turn at all. If the valve will turn in the casing without “clicking” in place, you will need to remove the valve, check that the guide has not “cocked” and try again. If the guide is cocked, pull it up with your fingers and allow it to snap back under the tension of the its spring. You should be able to just drop the valve into the casing under its own weight, turn the valve until it clicks and screw down the top valve cap and be done. If you try to force the valve into place or fight with the valve guide you will almost always cock the guide and have to start over. Easy does it, a little care and common sense go a long way to keeping your instrument working to it's fullest potential and giving you many wonderful years of enjoyment from it's fine performance.

Trumpet Playing Tips

If you are having trouble getting the notes to sound clearly no matter how hard you try or have a very limited endurance, it normally indicates an improper blowing technique or incorrect embouchure (lip formation) development. Since many music teachers are not professional brass players, they are generally not familiar with the proper techniques needed to correctly teach a student the best method to develop their student's embouchure and blowing techniques for the trumpet. I would suggest that you take a look at some of the links we've got on our web site's Links of interest, Trumpet Playing Tips concerning trumpet playing techniques and embouchure development. I recommend the Jerome Callet or Rune Aleksandersen method of embouchure development. I've played brass for over 47 years and I suffered poor playing techniques at the hands of my "Music Teacher" for many years when I was younger. When I started taking lessons from a professional trumpet player that had studied at the Julliard School of Music. It wasn't long after that that my playing technique improved dramatically and allowed me to finally get the instrument to play as it should and enable me to finally enjoy playing the trumpet to it's fullest capability.

If your embouchure has been developed correctly and your blowing technique is correct, you will be able to suspend (balance) the instrument from the second valve and with virtually no pressure being placed on the mouthpiece you will be able to play any open note from a low C to a G above high C without any effort.

Kent Allman