The design of the French horn makes it a little more trouble than most other instruments to maintain and the same design makes it essential to properly maintain.
Please take the time to do the procedures outlined below even if you are playing a school horn.
| description | procedure | frequency |
| Blow out | With the mouthpiece on the horn, forcefully blow air through the horn to clean the case fuzz and other stuff out of the mouthpiece and bore. That stuff can hang up your valves. | before each use |
| Wipe down | Empty the condensation out of your horn. With a soft, clean cloth, wipe the finger prints off. Securely store the mouthpiece and other accessories in the case so that they can't fall around and damage the horn. Place the horn in the case and securely latch the case. | after every use |
| Oil | Take the valve slides out, one at a time, and while holding the horn with the open tubes up, dribble a little valve oil into each slide tube. Continue to hold the horn inverted and work the valve a few times to distribute the oil. | Weekly |
| Cleaning | With the valves pressed, pour cool soapy water through the horn from the bell. Leave the slides in place when doing this. Run a small diameter snake through the leadpipe around the big curve, but not any small curves. Pour more soapy water through and rinse with clear water. Pull the slides and empty all the water from the horn and slides. Let dry. Grease the slides and install. Oil the valves as in "Oil" procedure but, in addition, take the valve caps off and put a few drops of oil in the bearing. You can tell where to put it. Put the caps back on and work the valves. On the other side of the valve, where the strings are, put some oil under the stop arm. The stop arm is the thing that moves back and forth when you press the levers. It is hard to get oil into those places, but not impossible, and it needs to be done. See Warnings | Monthly |
IF IN DOUBT, DON'T!!
CALL CHARLIE AT 800-264-7228 OR EMAIL
