To prevent the catastrophes that lie in wait for the trombonist, heed these words.
The trombone is a long cumbersome instrument. It is
easily bent and can be broken completely apart. When moving around with
the trombone, hold the instrument longwise against your side so that it isn't
sticking out at right angles.
The main slide is the heart of the horn. You have to
take care of it. Don't bump it against ANYTHING. The tubing has to
be thin or it would be too heavy to move quickly and will droop out of
alignment. Being thin it is easily dented.
Either use slide oil or something else. Don't mix the
two types of lubricant. They turn into something that doesn't help your
slide move freely.
Main slide lube actually isn't to help your slide move.
A dry slide moves very well. The lube helps to fill up the gap between
the outer and inner slides to lessen the leakage of air, but if you use too
much it will affect the slide action. You should not be able to see your
slide lubricant.
Watch the quick horn lifts. If you snap the horn down
onto your shoulder, you will flex the joint at the rotor valve. The
knuckle will flex and break over time. This is a costly repair.
Please do not use super glue on your horn in any way, shape, form, or
fashion. To do so will cause extra time and expense with repairs and
will not be corrected under our maintenance agreement.
DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT
use any polishing cloth that puts red stuff on your hands to polish your silver trombone. You may use a cloth that has a that turns black when you use it. The reason? The red stuff rubs off the silver.
'nuff said?
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