Caring for your Instrument

Regularly caring for your instrument is an easy way to prolong its life. This can help you avoid a big repair bill during an annual service.

General rule:

Your case is as fragile as the thing inside it!

No matter what you play, your case only protects from cosmetic damage. If you drop or throw the case, your instrument can be put out of adjustment. Especially with soft gig bags (i.e. dent bags).

Caring for your Clarinet

Helpful accessories to own:

• Cork grease
• Weighted swab
• Pad dryers
• Mouthpiece brush

Assembling:

This video shows Michelle at Backun doing a thorough assembly instructional:

Cleaning:

• Wash your mouthpiece in COLD soapy water (hot water will discolour it)
• Use the mouthpiece brush regularly
• Turn instrument upside down and drop weighted swab string down
• Pull the swab through slowly
• If pads are very wet, they can be blotted dry with a pad dryer

Caring for your Saxophone

Helpful accessories to own:

• Cork grease
• Weighted swab
• Neck Strap
• Pad dryers
• Key Leaves
• Mouthpiece brush

Assembling:

Here’s a great video from Jamie Anderson on assembling your saxophone:

Cleaning:

• Wash your mouthpiece in COLD soapy water (hot water will discolour it)
• Use the mouthpiece brush regularly
• Drop the weighted swab in the bell, turn upside down, then pull out the neck end
• If pads are very wet, they can be blotted dry with a pad dryer
• Key Leaves are a great invention that keep closed pads open to dry properly

Caring for your Flute

Helpful accessories to own:

• Cleaning wand
• Pad dryer
• A microfibre cloth

Assembling:

Here’s a quick, informative video from Dr Selfridge on assembling your flute:

Cleaning:

• Dry the flute with your wand every time you play
• Keep the damp wand outside the case
• Avoid silver polish as it can damage the pads and mechanism
• A clean, hot, well-wrung microfibre cloth (like the hot towels you get on flights) can be used to remove fingerprints from the body
• If pads are sticky, they can be blotted dry with a pad dryer

Caring for your Trumpet (Cornet, Flugel etc.)

Helpful accessories to own:

• Valve oil
• Slide Oil
• Slide Grease
• Mouthpiece brush

Lubrication:

Here is a good video on oiling the valves (if you don’t mind uncomfortable eye contact):

You should also regularly:

• Apply slide oil to the 1^st and 3^rd tuning slides (see diagram)
• Apply slide grease to the 2^nd and main tuning slide (see diagram)

Cleaning:

• Wash the mouthpiece in hot soapy after every use
• Clean fingerprints off body with a hot, damp microfibre cloth

Caring for your Trombone

The most important part of your trombone is the slide. It is easy for the slide to go out of adjustment; you are working with two pairs of long hollow tubes that need to be both parallel and aligned relative to each other.

Helpful accessories to own:

• Slide lube (for the main slide)
• Mouthpiece brush
• Slide Grease (for tuning slide)

Lubrication:

Here is a helpful video on how to lubricate your slide:

Care:

• Use both hands to remove the slide from the case to prevent bending
• Wash the mouthpiece in hot soapy water
• Clean fingerprints off body with a hot, damp microfibre cloth

If you are having issues with sticking, please come in and see us. The slides probably need aligning.