TromboneChat

Hi. I just bought a brand new horn. The slide is smooth, no grit, but it's a bit sluggish especially in first to third position. Any suggestions on how to free up this brand new slide? Just keep playing it, or is there something in particular that will help?

I've seen posts about gritty slides, general break-in periods, etc., but nothing on smooth but sluggish slides. What wisdom can you share?

The first thing to do would be to swab the outers, wipe off the inners, and apply fresh lubricant. Did you purchase online or in person?

There are definite break-in periods.
Clean and re-lube with quality products often (like, daily).

Don't be shy about taking to a quality local slide guy if issues persist.
I've received a brand new boutique horn with a slide that was bowed in the middle but not the ends.
Putting the inners into the outers (as 7th / 6th / 5th position) everything looked great.
But it just had a drag between 2nd and 4th.
A bit of knowledgeable muscle (my tech's, not mine) put it right.

Weird things happen.
Sometimes it's in your head, sometimes it's a real hardware issue.

Don't get uptight too quickly, give it a few weeks (at least) or months, and if it's still an issue a trip to the slide guy is in order.

Jim

I worked at a manufacturer. I did QC. There is no break in period, just horns that weren’t checked out correctly, cleaned after construction, or had problems happen to it at the retailer. Lots of times horns will get tried and gunk builds up in them at the retailer. Before I sell any trombone, I clean the slide and do a slide job.
Take it to who you bought it at, have them clean it up and get it in great shape.

ZacharyThornton wrote: ↑Tue Jul 18, 2023 10:40 pm I worked at a manufacturer. I did QC. There is no break in period, just horns that weren’t checked out correctly, cleaned after construction, or had problems happen to it at the retailer.

Thank you for that information, Zachary. I've never understood why (or believed that) a new slide should have a "break-in-period." They should be near-perfect from the factory - and not require further "adjustment" at the customer's expense.

I don't know about other brands, but Getzen seems to send out pristine slides. I expect that's also true of Edwards (of course), M&W (surely), Stephens, Shires (probably), and other high-end manufacturers.

Why pay top-dollar for something that needs further work?

Regardless of what "should" happen, when I get a brand new or just new to me horn, I consider the insides basically an unknown. So I usually give it a bath with warm water, Dawn dish soap, a snake/appropriate rods/brushes and rags. I have a hose in my shower that fits inside a trombone slide for a nice rinse. There have been times when I've had to clean out and re-lube the slide multiple times to get it right. Even on perfectly set up slides, you've got to get a bit of lube into the inside surface of the outer slide for it to really reach peak. It just takes time and patience. Wipe down and relube every time you take a break, it will need less attention as time goes by.

I find most instruments with brand new valves to be too tight for me, so brand new piston valves require months of actual break in, and tons of cleaning and relubing attention. I prefer valves that have been in use for a few years anyway. Tight rotary valves can be tricky. You don't want to wash them out, as you might unbalance the lube, but if tight valves get contaminated they are tough to deal with. Disassembling tight rotaries isn't simple like a 50 year old 88h.

Thanks for the good advice. I wish this forum had a "like button" for posts, so I could show appreciation.

Well, I swabbed out the outer slides with a rod and cheese cloth and gave the whole thing a bath. (Turns out there was a thin layer of slightly greasy residue all over the horn, so it needed a bath anyway.) It was vastly improved right away. Not perfect yet, but the improvement told me that I just need to keep cleaning and playing, cleaning and playing.

This is my first brand new (as opposed to new to me) horn I've bought in over 40 years. I've had a bias in favor of old horns, but this axe is fan-freaking-tastic. I'm converted.

tbdana wrote: ↑Wed Jul 19, 2023 10:24 am This is my first brand new (as opposed to new to me) horn I've bought in over 40 years. I've had a bias in favor of old horns, but this axe is fan-freaking-tastic. I'm converted.

So end the suspense - what is this wonderful (though residue-coated) mystery trombone?

What Zachary said earlier is very true if you are buying horns from retailers. We don't know the history of a horn has that has left the factory and is with a dealer for any length of time- so you don't know whet the end customer is getting. Predominantly things like tryouts and horns being handled by non trombonists. Finally, there a lot of discussion about slide preparation, and good (and consistent) preparation is vital to the playability. Oh yea, for sluggish slides I would have it measured and aligned, and have the inside of the outer slide polished.

If you don't solve the issue by repeated thorough cleaning, consider sending the slide to the Slide Doctor. Here is his link:

https://slidedr.com/

I have all my work done by Ray (Slide DR.) and it is impecable!!