Discussion of Oil and Grease
Well you all have very gently and graciously persuaded me to go with the Dolce. :) After plenty of time spent today on their site, Facebook page, and YouTube, and having also had more time to process the phone calls I had with MB earlier in the week, the decision is pretty clear.
I promised the hubby I'd wait at least one week before purchasing to ensure time to think, pray, and change my mind if needed. But, unless something changes, I'll order next week and look forward to sharing my impressions with you all upon its arrival!
I decided that maintenance or not, I just can't visually handle the lacquer, so I'll go ahead and get the silver. But the gold accents seem to be little more than cosmetic, and more than one reviewer indicated that the gold easily wore off. So I'll save $100 by sticking with the classic look.
I also think I'll stick with the original mouthpiece for now. While I imagine I'll upgrade later, I'll be happy to save that added cost now in order to help me afford the better instrument. I bet a mouthpiece would fit inside a Christmas stocking quite nicely!
My local music store told me today that most people are fine with generic valve oil, but that "older, pickier" people prefer Hetman. I told her I'm old and picky, and having remembered the recommendations here for the same, that decision was made easily enough.
I remembered I have lanolin leftover from my student days. Think that's still ok to use on the slides, or does it expire? If you really wanna go there (I don't assume that you do, but apparently I do), I also have lanolin leftover from my breastfeeding days (years) that is much fresher and would presumably work nicely. I don't intend to be using it for its intended purpose anytime soon.
I'll look at the above recommendations for brushes soon. I'm thankful to have my options reduced to two, so your time is much appreciated.
THANK YOU all so much for contributing your experience and informed opinions to my decision! I'm so excited that this is finally happening after all these years!!!
Kimberly