I'll agree with Ken. I am willing and able to remove the valves from my Finke, and I have. However, when I saw bad things in my horn, I took it to Ken to be cleaned properly. He has equipment and knowledge I don't. With proper oiling my horn won't need professional cleaning for a long time.
Herb Foster --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > So....you want to keep your horns clean and do it on the cheap, and safely > too? > First of all, I agree with Dave Weiner- if you do your own cleanings with > those kits which are available - you must be very careful to be certain to > remove ALL traces of the cleaning fluids AND you must neutralize the > surfaces afterwards OR you will be leaving your instruments in a non-neutral > state. In otherwords, by trying to save money - you could be ending up with > a horn which is 'Red Rot Ready'. > There are even top name repair shops who use over the counter toilet bowl > cleaners to clean horns at conventions WITHOUT neutralizing the horn, > WITHOUT degreasing the instrument by fully immersing it, WITHOUT fully > immersing the body of the horn in said cleaning fluids - AND they charge > high prices too - in my mind they are doing more harm, than good to a horn. > > So... my suggestions: > 1. Get the horn cleaned professionally - IN a well respected shop, > preferably ultrasonically! THEN keep it well oiled, and keep the mouthpipe > clean. That way you'll only have to have it cleaned every 3 or 4 years! > That works out to about $30/year (less than you pay for a single oil change > with your car). > > 2. DO NOT have your horn cleaned at any 'off site' place (ie. A workshop, or > concert). These shops will not have their full facilities available to do a > proper job. > > I understand your desire to save money (I have 4 kids!!), but you should > keep things in a proper perspective. Also, please do not think even for a > moment that I am advocating this because I am a technician who benefits from > doing this procedure, I am advocating this from the standpoint of seeing > hundreds of horns a year that have been home 'cleaned', or poorly cleaned by > other shops and spend much of my time re-repairing said instruments. > > Sincerely, > Ken > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more. http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250 _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org