Ch1k3n

Is it possible to give my horn a flush at home with a garden hose or something? and if so, does anyone have any tips? I might want to try it. My King feels like it's got a ton of resistance.

Hello! So my valve oil bottles are running dry, time for some new oil! The trouble is I don't really know the options out there. I'm using a King euph, those valves need some pretty good and constant oiling to keep them moving smoothly, and so far I've been using the standard Yamaha synthetic oil, that stuff that comes in the starter pack or whatever it's called. I've been quite pleased with it, it did the job ok, nothing special though. I've got a bottle of Blue Juice, but it feels a little thin and too weak, I don't know how to say it. I haven't applied it in a while, because I liked the Yamaha stuff better, but from what I remember the oil felt a little thin. The canister has a picture of a trumpet on it though, don't know if it's made for trumpet valves, but... I had the opportunity to use some that absolutely made my valves glorious. It was a white canister with a dropper, with green writing on it and a green dropper balloon at the top, the thing you use to build suction in the tube to bring the oil up, you know what I'm talking about . I think the brand started with an H, not sure, but that was the best stuff ever. Just a couple drops and my valves felt new. It's starting to wear off though, and my third valve is now sticking a little bit. Could it be that my horn needs to be flushed because there's too much grime in the tubings getting into the valve casing? Anyways, what's your input on the best valve oil out there? Thanks!

Definitely avoid the ones that say something like "professional" or "Euphonium Tuba Marching Baritone" or something like that. Read the description, and if it looks like it was composed with Google Translate (erratic grammar, etc.) then it probably was. Look for proper English in the posts and just all around genuineness.

Yeah I've heard mixed opinions on the Jupiters. I've read some not so satisfactory reviews (intonation, etc.) but the Blue Knights brass caption head told me that it's the "best instrument they make". I would presume the best marching instrument they make, but I'd have to try one out myself to be sure.

I've only tried Yamaha, King Standard, and System Blue euphoniums. The Yamahas were the most comfortable to hold, with just about perfect front to back balance as well as being decently light. I felt as if I could balance it on the knuckles of my left wrist and it wouldn't tip forwards or backwards. Playing wise, it's quite nice, low resistance. The King Standard is the horn I own, got it for a steal off eBay. It's quite a bit heavier and more bell-heavy compared to the Yamaha, you'll need to sort of pull the bell up, which if you're holding the horn for quite a while, creates some strain at the base of your thumb, but you get used to the horn's weight distribution after awhile. It's much longer than the Yamaha, so allow for some extra room in front of you for horns ups! Playing wise, it's got a little more resistance in the upper register, plays very nicely in the lower register, but I might need to get it flushed, not sure how much grime is in there! The kickout paddle for the first valve slide is also a very nifty feature, allowing you to tune the first valve slide by pushing the paddle instead of kicking out your thumb, allowing for easier carriage of the horn. The System Blue felt sort of awkward to hold, as it doesn't have any sort of way to adjust the first or third valve tuning slide while playing. The System Blue vendor described it as a "set and forget" method, but it made the horn pretty awkward to hold, at least in my hands. The flat top valves are definitely different, but feel as if they'll work amazingly when properly and perfectly oiled, but will feel cheap and tinny if not maintained perfectly. The balance is quite good on the horn, its balance is pretty close to that of the Yamaha baritone, and is about the size of one as well. Playing wise, they claim that it has the euphonium sound, I would claim that it's sort of a hybrid between a baritone and a euphonium. It does have a fuller sound than a baritone has, but there's still that feeling of a small horn in that sound. Still a good sound, but I wouldn't claim it to have the sound of a euphonium. All in all I don't have enough playing experience with the Yamaha euph to determine my favorite, but so far it's the King, mostly because I've spent a couple hundred hours on the horn, getting pretty used to it. You'll just have to try them out yourself to determine what you like best, but these things are just what I've collected from my extensive or limited use from these horns. Hope I could help!

I actually have never thought of taping hand warmers to the instrument, seems like a very smart thing to do! As for the whole instrument, I guess the only thing to do is not set it down. Either that or leave it indoors, but not much you can do to fight mother nature :\

I probably could see Vanguard doing it, but also very much the Blue Knights. Cavaliers? Not so much

Ok cool thanks for the tips! wow haha how did that work out with the ensemble? Did you just have one tuba playing at a time?

So I'm going up to san antonio next weekend, and was wondering something. I have my own king euph (got off ebay for a steal), but the Bluecoats use Yamahas. I was wondering if I brought my euph, if I'd be able to spend some good time on the Yamahas, as I heard they're pretty good instruments, maybe even better than the King that I have (definitely lighter ), and I might sound better on it? I don't know. Or if I could just not bring it and use one of their horns, but they are encouraging people to bring their own horns. I'd just like to spend a lot of time with a Yamaha euph, learning it's tuning tendencies, weight distribution, resistance (the King seems to have a lot of resistance in the upper register, something I'm not too fond of, or maybe it's just my 51D mouthpiece.) Thanks!

There's txbands for texas bands whoops I'm sorry, just necro'd this thread..... wasn't paying attention

psssst. it takes about 5 seconds to vote, and you can vote every day! That means if you voted for 10 years straight, you would've had to devote 0.212 days of your live to a very good cause!

1.) baris only 2.) I don't know

voted!

yes but the question is is it safe to use? Obviously you shouldn't get it in the valves, but what about scratches on the horn? Will soap or Windex seep in and damage the metal underneath?

And is why I'd choose performing with Madison compared to BD any day. I'd rather march a show that people rose to their feet in tears afterwards than thinking "what did I just watch?"

Heh heh Boo you made my day!

watching all the 2012 season "Cams" :)

Why do like, all the corps have their auditions on the 17th?

Well no my question was if I could use windex or something to shine my horn. I wasn't asking what the best product to shine my horn was.

Regiment's schedule is updated http://www.regiment.org/howtojoin/ so does Vanguard... somewhere lol

I don't really think it's about the money...I'd say it's about the experience. If I didn't make a choice corps, I'd try out for an open class corps near me or something. It's not like if I don't make the Bluecoats, I'm just not going to march. I'd just choose a different corps.

Hello! I'm just wondering if I can use any household cleaning materials like Windex or something to clean my horn? I've got caked sweat and some caked on dark colored stuff that I'd like to clean off. I don't have any sort of fancy stuff, but I could possibly get some if I need. Thanks!

Bluecoats

OC is now WC! (wait... let me get this straight) I mean that the Oregon Crusaders are now World Class! lol

Thanks for all the great responses! So I am probably not going to be a good high school band teacher, I just don't think that's what I'm meant to do. But how well would working with drum corps while having a full time job go?