lupin Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 playing tuba is fun, but polishing it is a pain in the arse. especially getting all the crap out of the crevices with a cue tip. has anyone ever used a power washer? would it be damaging to the finish and/or other parts of the horn? what are your (you people) thoughts on te best way to do it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaml6 Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 playing tuba is fun, but polishing it is a pain in the arse. especially getting all the crap out of the crevices with a cue tip. has anyone ever used a power washer? would it be damaging to the finish and/or other parts of the horn? what are your (you people) thoughts on te best way to do it? Play Soprano (trumpet) Btw.. I hated cleaning our 4 valve contra, after an hour.. still isnt clean enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrassshop Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 I agree that tubas are a big cleaning problem HOWEVER, I keep strips of old T shirts to use between the tubing, It is called ragging, put a small amount of polish on it place between and pull both ends back and forth . This is how they do it when plating or buffing. BTW if you do this the horn will take less time to clean in the future, THAT IS if you keep it clean. Paul Collins The Brass Shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupin Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 yeah i should try that, but every time i do it (once a week), i still find places that are hard to reach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 A power washer sounds like a bad idea, and anyway you'd just end up with water spots even if the force of the water doesn't damage the finish. Old t-shirts and rags are good ideas, it's just one of the little annoyances one has to deal with when cleaning a tuba. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 (edited) Wrights Silver Cream, it works the fastest without much elbow grease. Give it a good coat, ragging, and take it to the shower. Then dry it so it doesn't spot. I find trumpet HARDER to clean because the cracks are too small to even use a Q-tip on. But then again I did have the 11141 that I could almost completely disassemble before giving a thorough cleaning. It's much easier to clean the small parts when you can take them off the horn and give them a good soak. Edited March 6, 2009 by Shadow_7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Play Soprano (trumpet) Btw.. I hated cleaning our 4 valve contra, after an hour.. still isnt clean enough! I hear you...just the sheer size of the beast is prohibitive...it doesn't fit too well in a shower stall, or a bathtub, and most of them don't have cases, so they tarnish much faster than a cased up horn. I think it takes me at least 2 hours to do an adequate job cleaning...probably twice that if I pay special attention around the valve cluster. Even when you take the time to do what you think is great job, you still find either tarnish, gunk, or leftover silver polish in some out of the way place a week later. Just for reference, here's a pic of mine torn down prior to cleaning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupin Posted March 6, 2009 Author Share Posted March 6, 2009 I hear you...just the sheer size of the beast is prohibitive...it doesn't fit too well in a shower stall, or a bathtub, and most of them don't have cases, so they tarnish much faster than a cased up horn. I think it takes me at least 2 hours to do an adequate job cleaning...probably twice that if I pay special attention around the valve cluster.Even when you take the time to do what you think is great job, you still find either tarnish, gunk, or leftover silver polish in some out of the way place a week later. Just for reference, here's a pic of mine torn down prior to cleaning... holy crap dude!!!! we normally dont have time to do a full tear down, so i just hit what i can. ive taken my horn to the shower once, but ill never do it again after i learned about the water that was still trapped in it during warm-ups,....gosh darnit....thats another thing,....darn polite euphemisms! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ussglassman Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 holy crap dude!!!! we normally dont have time to do a full tear down, so i just hit what i can. ive taken my horn to the shower once, but ill never do it again after i learned about the water that was still trapped in it during warm-ups,....gosh darnit....thats another thing,....darn polite euphemisms! WINDEX!!!! Seriously, I used the "natural vinegar" windex on my horn and the stuff melts off tarnish buildup. As far as down inside the valves, I usually just have a friend go through my horn before performances. I'm sure someone in your line would be worth paying $20 to spend a few hours on your horn. If you don't want anyone touching your horn, then you just have to deal with if it must be spotless. If you're in junior corps, get the whole contra/tuba line together during off-time and just make a party of it. Whoever can afford it can chip in $ for extra valve oil, wrights, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupin Posted March 6, 2009 Author Share Posted March 6, 2009 WINDEX!!!!Seriously, I used the "natural vinegar" windex on my horn and the stuff melts off tarnish buildup. As far as down inside the valves, I usually just have a friend go through my horn before performances. I'm sure someone in your line would be worth paying $20 to spend a few hours on your horn. If you don't want anyone touching your horn, then you just have to deal with if it must be spotless. If you're in junior corps, get the whole contra/tuba line together during off-time and just make a party of it. Whoever can afford it can chip in $ for extra valve oil, wrights, etc. what are you nut? no rookie and/or anyone else would be willing to do it for $20. besides i used windex for years and it didnt do much good. after the windex we moved to armorall wipes, they sucked butt as well. no, its a valuable lesson to learn to keep up the maintenance of your horn weekly,.....oh wait natural vinegar windex?......hmmmm, no i'll just stick with polishing it....but thanks for the comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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