Maintenance

With each instrument you will receive a set of basic instructions on how to look after your instrument. If you would like to download or consult these documents thn please click the links below.

General advice

It is not a good idea to keep the instrument moist or humid surroundings.
After each use we recommend drying the instrument thoroughly with a drying brush, rod and cloth or rag. Wipe the keys and outside of the body with a cloth to remove the sweat because it can deteriorate the lacquer and / or plating.
If you have a saxophone, use the brush that comes inside the main tube (certain models only) to dry the humidity if it is wet. It is important to leave this cleaning brush outside the tube otherwise if you keep the brush inside the tube you are just putting all the humidity back inside the instrument.

When you arrive home it’s a good idea to leave the case open for a time to let the rest of the humidity evaporate and leave the saxophone well dry.

Always remove the reed from the mouthpiece and store them in a reed sleeve of box if you want to last longer. The care and maintenance of your saxophone is an important part of knowing how to prevent damage to your instrument. For more information on this topic, read the advice of Sergio Gomez Jerez by clicking here (thanks to Adolphe Sax).

If you have a trumpet, cornet or flugelhorn, keep the pistons lubricated. The trumpet is a very sensitive, so it is very important to empty the saliva from the tuning shanks and with the water key and to dry inside and out. Click here for more information on the trumpet and maintenance (thanks to wikipedia).

If you have a trombone, keep the bar greased and lubricated. If you have a model with modulation valve it is important to make sure that the valve is oiled as it is a moving part. Always empty the saliva after each use with the water key.

Flutes and piccolos. Use the rod and cloth to dry the flute inside and out to remove any sweat (very acidic). For more information on maintenance of the flute, click here (thanks to luthier of wind).

If you have a clarinet. Dismantle the clarinet after each use. Wipe each piece inside and out with a cloth. Remove the reed and store it in a reed sleeve or box to keep it dry and in good condition. If you would like more information about clarinet maintenence click here.

More information soon!

If you take good care of your instrument it will take care of you!

How to glue a saxophone pad

Firstly we will remove the key that we want to work on from its fittings. This will involve either removing the fixing screws from either end of the key or removing the cilindrical rod screw that passes through a series of keys. Pleae use an adecuate screw driver in perfect contition to avoid damaging the screw in any way. In the case of not being able to remove the cilindrical rod screw please use a set of pliers to help prize the screw from its fitting once it has been looseneyour seating d. Do not use excessive force! Remove the old pad either using heat (flame or hot air) on the reverse side of the circular part of the key or using a tool to prize the pad from the key. Once removed you will need to clean the inside of the circular part of the key, this can be done with an alcohol based cleaning product to remove any old resin or glue. Once the key has a clean basin then it is time to either apply your pad seating glue or contact glue. I generally use contact glue (the type you fix puntures on your bikes inner tube with) as it is a glue that is not affected by extreme changes in temperature. Apply the contact glue to both the underside of the new pad and also the keys circular basin and wait for 5-10 minutes for the glue to dry on both surfeces before binding them together. Once the pad has been pressed firmly in the circular basin of the key it is time to mount the key back into position taking care to also mount the other keys you have had to remove in order to get to the affected key.

It will be necessary after completing this job to make sure the pad closes completely over the toone hole with no air leaks. This can be done with a tube light which can be insterted into the instrument or using a thin paper to put between the pad and the tone hole. using the paper you will have to have to close the pad over the hole with the paper inbetween and try to remove the paper using little force. If the paper slides out easily it mans that the pad is not touching the tone hole and you will have to consult a luthier to help with this process. Repeat this step on all sides of the pad to make sure the pad closes well on all sides.

Using the light it is easy to identify any air leak by being able to se light coming out from inbetween the pad and the tone hole. If you see light you will have to consult with a luthier to help you fix the issue.

Tools needed:

Screwdriver (usually flat head)

Small nosed pliers

Contact glue

How to store a brass instrument

If we see that we are not going to play our instrument during a certain period of time it is better to store it properly to avoid sticking pistons and stuck tuning slides when we want to play our instrument the next time. How do we do this?

First we are going to extract all the pistons and dry them with a non lint cloth (lint are the small hairs present on many cleaning cloths) or kitchen paper. After you have dried the pistons put a small layer of oil on them and wrap them in the cloth. Proceed now to remove the tuning slides and repeat the same step as with the pistons. This will mean that when you go to play your instrrument after a peroid of inactivity your instrument will be in perfect working order.

If you instrument has Rotary valves do not try and remove them! This s a difficult job and prone to problems. Remove all tuning slides and oil them as in step 2 above and store them with together. you will also want to apply a small amount of oil to the rotary valve and move it so the oil coats the whole valve.

What do we achieve with these simple actions? Longivity of the instrument. It means that the instrument will not build up rust on either the piston/valve surfaces and/or tuning slides and means you will save time and money on un-needed luthiers.

If you look after your instrument it will look after you!