I have been using Schilke for the past 3 years, but then I switched to Selmar slide grease. It works to an okay standard, where I have to constantly unstick the slide (the slide would get sticky to the non-moving part). I like the bottled stuff better, so what are my choices for a better grease?
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I've had good success with Hetman's slide grease. Slide grease no. 7 works the best for me. It doesn't interfere with any type valve oil you use.Rick Floyd
Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
"Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
The Cowboys (John Williams, arr. James Curnow)
Festive Overture (Dmitri Shostakovich)
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I personally like hetmans stuff as well as the bach(selmer) grease, but I have had a unique issue that seems to be happenings only to me with my Adams horn, while others using the same horn, grease, and oils do not have an issue. I have a problem where my slide grease will liquify after I apply new oil onto the piston valves. this has happened with le-blanc grease, hetman 7+, as well as bach(selmer) grease, and each time the same result. I am going to try and clean my horn and try another kind called zaja? Anyone heard of it or used it before. I also have hetman 10 I believe it is also called hetman Musical Instrument Grease(MIG) I may try that. My Besson doesn't have this problem and I have used hetman and like it.Adams E1 SS, Gold Brass Body .6mm DE Euph N103 Jcup, J9 shank
Meinl Weston 2141 Eb Tuba PT 84
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While I use the Selmer slide grease on my euphoniums-- including my new Mack Brass-- on my large bore trombone it seems too stiff so I use Bag Balm.
For those of you in urban areas, Bag Balm comes from Vermont was originally designed to be used by farmers on their cow teats and udders-- it used to say for veterinary use only. However, a women here in Iowa who had a talk show for farmers' wives began to tout its healing properties on her show for hands, etc. and sales took off. I use it on my chin when the Iowa winters and shaving take their toll. It's available here in the Midwest in most smaller communities and I assume elsewhere as well. It comes in a green square can. It's composition is petroleum jelly, lanolin and a bit of antiseptic. It works very well on tuning slides that are a little stiffer and it's inexpensive unless you buy the tiny little can-- the one that's about an inch square. The antiseptic might help kill crud that could grow on your tuning slide as well.
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Originally posted by Jrpetty24 View PostI personally like hetmans stuff as well as the bach(selmer) grease, but I have had a unique issue that seems to be happenings only to me with my Adams horn, while others using the same horn, grease, and oils do not have an issue. I have a problem where my slide grease will liquify after I apply new oil onto the piston valves. this has happened with le-blanc grease, hetman 7+, as well as bach(selmer) grease, and each time the same result. I am going to try and clean my horn and try another kind called zaja? Anyone heard of it or used it before. I also have hetman 10 I believe it is also called hetman Musical Instrument Grease(MIG) I may try that. My Besson doesn't have this problem and I have used hetman and like it.
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I have found great success using Hetman 5 and 7, 5 for my marching horn because it spends most of the time with slides oriented horizontally, and the 1st slide having a thumb ring for tuning while moving. It also goes on my trombone's tuning slide.
I use 7 for my concert horn
And I greased about 2 months ago and have used it every day, and yet the slides still move quite freely and I'm very pleased.
I also use blue juice oil and find the combination not conflicting at all.
Just a side note, the super slick trombone suff Tampaworth mentioned is quite good for trombone, their special solution works quite wellMarco Santos - Marcher and Performer
Guardians Drum & Bugle Corps 2015
Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps 2016, 20i7, 2018
Adams E1
Modified Schilke 52E2 by Justin Gorodetzky
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A naive question perhaps but sincere on my part. I've never used anything but regular old Vaseline petroleum jelly. Is there a reason that this isn't a good idea? It does the job: the slides move freely in and out. Who could ask for more? Seriously, is there something that these other products do that I'm missing out on?Last edited by SteveP; 11-11-2014, 07:24 PM.Steve Petrangelo
Lake Havasu Regional Orchestra (trombone/treasurer)
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Originally posted by SteveP View PostA naive question perhaps but sincere on my part. I've never used anything but regular old Vaseline petroleum jelly. Is there a reason that this isn't a good idea? It does the job: the slides move freely in and out. Who could ask for more? Seriously, is there something that these other products do that I'm missing out on?Dave Werden (ASCAP)
Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
Adams Artist (Adams E3)
Alliance Mouthpiece DC3, Wick 4AL, Wick 4ABL
YouTube: dwerden
Facebook: davewerden
Twitter: davewerden
Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium
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I used to use anhydrous lanolin -- for many years.
About a year ago I switched to Dow Corning High Vacuum Grease. It's not cheap, but you need VERY little of it. And it lasts virtually forever on the slides.
Some are concerned about it migrating to valves, and the difficulty of removing it (it's heavily silicone based). But I've had no problem with this. It is very difficult to genuinely remove. So don't put it somewhere you will need to totally remove it from the surface. It's possible to remove it, but in my experience this requires actually soaking the surface in the solvent for some extended period of time (like maybe a week, depending on the solvent). Despite the fact that a lot of the spec sheets list some pretty hideous chemicals as solvents for it, I have managed to dissolve it in kerosene (ultra-purified lamp oil) by soaking over time.
Personally, I love the stuff. The 5 oz tube I have of it will probably last forever.Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)
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Originally posted by SteveP View PostI've never used anything but regular old Vaseline petroleum jelly. Is there a reason that this isn't a good idea?Bob Tampa FL USA
Euph -- 1984 B&H Round Stamp Sovereign 967 / 1978 Besson NS 767 / Early 90s Sterling MP: 4AL and GW Carbonaria
Tuba -- 2014 Wisemann 900 CC / 2013 Mack 410 MP: Blokepiece Symphony American Shank and 33.2 #2 Rim
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Originally posted by tampaworth View PostI wanted to throw out one additional slide grease question. All other things being equal, what type of slide grease might best prevent slide inner leg discoloration?
I don't think that either the anhydrous lanolin I used to use, or the Dow High Vacuum Grease I now use, resulted in any discoloration. But I also don't think I would have cared if they did.Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)
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Originally posted by ghmerrill View PostJust genuinely curious, but I do wonder what "inner leg discoloration" refers to and why anyone would be concerned about it. I also don't think I would have cared if they did.Bob Tampa FL USA
Euph -- 1984 B&H Round Stamp Sovereign 967 / 1978 Besson NS 767 / Early 90s Sterling MP: 4AL and GW Carbonaria
Tuba -- 2014 Wisemann 900 CC / 2013 Mack 410 MP: Blokepiece Symphony American Shank and 33.2 #2 Rim
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