TromboneChat

All throughout undergrad and grad school I played an 88H and used Conn super slick as a slide lube. I loved it. I stopped playing to follow a different path in music but have recently picked up to horn again. I’ve been using Trombotine and like it a lot. However, I was in a local Music store recently and in the accessory section I saw several jars of super slick. The jar was much smaller than it used to be, and I didn’t see the small bottle of liquid silicone that they used to sell with it. My brilliant scientific mind immediately thought, “Gee, they must’ve combined the two, what a great idea!” When I got home I was all excited to try it. I thoroughly cleaned my slide and opened the small jar of super slick and was shocked that the consistency was so different, not to mention it was also translucent, not opaque like the original. I put the slide together and was shocked at how viscous the new super slick formula was! I wiped it all off with the exception of what I had applied to the stocks and sprayed a good amount of water on it. Once again the slide felt like it had vaseline on it. I then picked up the small container and under the words super slick I saw “tuning slide grease.” OOPS!

After an hour of repeated cleanings I got my slide back.

Well after all, it is just one big tuning slide...

On the plus side, it probably would have lasted a month!

Doug Elliott wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:06 am Well after all, it is just one big tuning slide...

One of the things I like about you is your positive attitude!

Matt K wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 7:21 am On the plus side, it probably would have lasted a month!

At least!!

Years ago I had a new private student, he was in 7th grade at the time and had been playing for 3-4 years. As I always do, one of the first things I checked was how well his slide worked. It felt like it was "lubed" with thick grease - which, as it turned out, it was. Well, it WAS labeled slide grease, as the kid pointed out.
He gave it a bath before the next lesson, and I came armed with isopropyl alcholol along with the cleaning rod for the next several lessons. THEN he started to make progress!

Being a band/orchestra teacher and a technician, I have seen it all. Many times I have seen tuning slide grease used on the hand slide and slide cream used on tuning slides.

For years, I have seen valved and slide instruments show up in my shop and my classroom with vegetable oil (cooking oil) used as a lubricant. Those instruments have a strange scent when you open up the case......sort of a mix of Italian salad dressing and fried chicken. I refer to them as "Wesson Instruments."

One time, I had a fourth grade baritone player show up for a rehearsal and his valves were moving in super slow motion. I pulled out a valve and it was blue and slimy. I asked him what he put on the valves. He said the valves smelled funny so his Mom recommended putting men's deodorant gel on the pistons.

Mamaposaune wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 9:09 am Years ago I had a new private student, he was in 7th grade at the time and had been playing for 3-4 years. As I always do, one of the first things I checked was how well his slide worked. It felt like it was "lubed" with thick grease - which, as it turned out, it was. Well, it WAS labeled slide grease, as the kid pointed out.
He gave it a bath before the next lesson, and I came armed with isopropyl alcholol along with the cleaning rod for the next several lessons. THEN he started to make progress!

At least he had the excuse of being 12 years old. I do not!

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:05 am Being a band/orchestra teacher and a technician, I have seen it all. Many times I have seen tuning slide grease used on the hand slide and slide cream used on tuning slides.

For years, I have seen valved and slide instruments show up in my shop and my classroom with vegetable oil (cooking oil) used as a lubricant. Those instruments have a strange scent when you open up the case......sort of a mix of Italian salad dressing and fried chicken. I refer to them as "Wesson Instruments."

One time, I had a fourth grade baritone player show up for a rehearsal and his valves were moving in super slow motion. I pulled out a valve and it was blue and slimy. I asked him what he put on the valves. He said the valves smelled funny so his Mom recommended putting men's deodorant gel on the pistons.

This makes me feel a bit less stupid.

I had a Chinese copy of a Conn 88HO come in with a care kit. The large tube in the kit said "slide cream" but it was "too thin to plow and too thick to drink". I bet a lot of kids get care kits like this and try to use the "slide cream" on the handslide and had the same result as PosauneCat or Mamaposaune's student.

Did a tour with my college brass choir, staying with host families. After dinner the host family kid brought out his trombone and asked why the slide was so slow. He had put enough Superslick cream on it the entire slide was white and it was oozing out the top! Must have used half a jar.

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:05 am For years, I have seen valved and slide instruments show up in my shop and my classroom with vegetable oil (cooking oil) used as a lubricant. Those instruments have a strange scent when you open up the case......sort of a mix of Italian salad dressing and fried chicken. I refer to them as "Wesson Instruments."

Well, Fröhlich in 1811 writes that the best lubricant for trombone slides is Provence olive oil, wiped off and re-applied every couple days. Maybe your students were onto something!

LeTromboniste wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:37 pm

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 10:05 am For years, I have seen valved and slide instruments show up in my shop and my classroom with vegetable oil (cooking oil) used as a lubricant. Those instruments have a strange scent when you open up the case......sort of a mix of Italian salad dressing and fried chicken. I refer to them as "Wesson Instruments."

Well, Fröhlich in 1811 writes that the best lubricant for trombone slides is Provence olive oil, wiped off and re-applied every couple days. Maybe your students were onto something!

I wonder if the olive oil would smell better than the Wesson oil after fermenting in the case for a while?

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 7:53 pm

LeTromboniste wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 3:37 pm Well, Fröhlich in 1811 writes that the best lubricant for trombone slides is Provence olive oil, wiped off and re-applied every couple days. Maybe your students were onto something!

I wonder if the olive oil would smell better than the Wesson oil after fermenting in the case for a while?

Couldn't be much worse!!