valve oil ?

[hallbear211]

not sure is this is the right section for this question but here i go anyways. What is the best brand of valve oil to use on my horn?



Thanks
holly

[davewerden]

If you ask me... Blue Juice. (But we'll get other answers, I'm sure!)

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Juice-BJ2...rds=blue+juice

[graeme]

I have tried many oils on my Prestige 2052 but have found Blue Juice very good. La Tromba is also one I would recommend, its the choice of David Childs.

[RickF]

Another vote here for Blue Juice. I've tried many brands - Al Cass Fast, Alysin, Binak, Hetmans and Yamaha synthetic. Blue Juice does the job without creating any nasty yellow buildup that some synthetics create.

YMMV

[tampaworth]

Like many, I've tried a large assortment of valve oils and settled on the juice, Blue Juice that is!

[ghmerrill]

If you look on this board at other threads on this subject, I believe that you'll discover that you can view the responses as falling into two groups:

1. The best valve oil is a "natural" (petroleum) oil.
2. The best valve oil is a synthetic oil.

For each of these, there then appears to be a kind of consensus (not universal or even overwhelming, but fairly general):

A. The best natural valve oil is Blue Juice.
B. The best synthetic valve oil is one of the Yamaha synthetic valve oils.

So a reasonable approach might be to buy a bottle of the Blue Juice and a bottle of (the appropriate) Yamaha synthetic valve oil and try each. If you do that you should thoroughly clean your valves when you switch from one to the other. And you'll probably want to switch back and forth a few times to be sure what the result is (if you notice any difference). This experiment at least gives you experience with two different and highly regarded valve oils, but requires that you only try two.

In the case of the Yamaha, "appropriate" depends on you're instrument and how worn it is. If it's fairly old and the valves are pretty well used, then the Medium version may be the best choice. If it's new or has tight tolerances in the valves, then the Light would probably be the best choice. If it's REALLY old/worn, then the Vintage may do the trick for you.

A lot of this turns out to be personal preference and -- it appears -- personal chemistry interacting with the valve oil. There is no single "right" answer, and there is likely no single "best" valve oil -- even for a given player on a given instrument.

The two euphonium players who sit near me in community band both use Blue Juice. I use Yamaha Light Synthetic Valve Oil on my Mack Brass euph and my Wessex tuba. I use the Vintage oil on my 1924 tuba. The tuba player who sits to my left uses, I think, whatever valve oil she happens to have or have scrounged from her daughter.

[SteveP]

The tuba player who sits to my left uses, I think, whatever valve oil she happens to have or have scrounged from her daughter.

I'm a big proponent of this method of choosing a valve oil. If the oil makes the valve go down smoothly and return quickly then it's a 10 in my book! So far they've all worked fine. Haven't tried a synthetic yet though.

[Davidus1]

Another vote here for Blue Juice. I've tried many brands - Al Cass Fast, Alysin, Binak, Hetmans and Yamaha synthetic. Blue Juice does the job without creating any nasty yellow buildup that some synthetics create.

YMMV

Blue Juice for me as well! Works well, lasts quite a while.

[ghmerrill]

I'm a big proponent of this method of choosing a valve oil. If the oil makes the valve go down smoothly and return quickly then it's a 10 in my book! So far they've all worked fine. Haven't tried a synthetic yet though.

Of course she plays a rotary valve tuba. In my experience, piston instruments are a lot more sensitive to the oil used -- in large part because of the valve tolerances and the fact that in piston instruments the valve surfaces are actually subject to wear.

Here are what I think are the major considerations in choosing a valve oil:

1. Viscosity (not too thin; not too thick)
2. Odor/taste (some people aren't bothered by the taste and smell of petroleum products -- even kerosene; others are)
3. Color/staining (most petroleum oils stain or color anything they get on; synthetics don't seem to)
4. Time required between applications (and your belief about this; in general the "natural" oils seem to wash off significantly more quickly than the synthetics)
5. Build-up, gunk, slime, etc. (no one seems to like this; there is wide variance among players on which oils result in these things and on which instruments)
6. Ease of acquisition (some people like to buy it in a music store -- if you can find one; others are fine with internet purchases)
7. Cost (synthetics tend to be more expensive; Blue Juice is about half the cost of Yamaha synthetic oil; but I don't know what the difference in time between application is; some people like to go real cheap and mix their own from ultrapure lamp oil -- which is kerosene -- and motor oil)

[adrian_quince]

My philosophy has always been to use natural valve oil if it works for the horn before turning to a synthetic. The only instrument I'm using a synthetic on right now is my Kanstul Euphonium, which is brand new and still has very tight valves. Everything else gets Al Cass or Bill's Best (for fussy older valves).

[cognitofalcon]

While blue juice is good for most. In my experience, you may have to try a few different ones to find out what works best for you. Everyone's body chemistry is different, blue juice did not work well for me, my valves would be sluggish often, and it left a blueish green gunk in my valves. I switched to Zaja aroma therapy and it worked great. I also like Yamaha synthetic oils.

[highpitch]

I've tried most of the major brands, on horns new and very used.

Fat Cat, Blue Juice, Al Cass, Yamaha, leBlanc just to name a few.

I settled on Hetmans, as it comes in multiple grades for different applications.

As a tip for a player having to run a worn-out horn with no compression on occasion, put a few drops of STP in a cheap bottle of valve oil....she'll perk right up for about half a gig.


Dennis

[John the Theologian]

Another vote for Blue Juice. They also have big bottles which you can use to refill the small bottles in your case. Especially helpful if you have more than one horn. We discovered that when our son was still a trumpet player living at home.

http://www.wwbw.com/Blue-Juice-Valve...-i1133496.wwbw

[TigerBandBaritone]

Cass, but if BJ or other brand works for you, go for it.

[Low Brass Chap]

My previous private instructor told me that Blue Juice can create bluish green gunk build up in the bottom of the valves and the tuning slides. Has anyone else had this problem? To be fair, his euphonium is a pretty old Besson Sovereign from around 1975 and has some rot near the handle, so it could have something to do with age.