Putting my horn away

[Sara Hood]

I need to step away from playing for two to four months. I was wondering about how to store my horn. I know that there is some give and take, but roughly when do you store the horn disassembled (valves and slides pulled) rather than just lube everything up and store it intact?
- Sara

[John Morgan]

So sorry to hear you have to step away. Hope you are back soon and things are well.

For four months, I would clean the horn, let it thoroughly dry, grease the slides, oil the valves, and put it in its case. Store it in a room that is kept similar to your home, not in a freezing place or very hot place. I think it should be fine. It will miss you and your face, so don't let it suffer too long!

[ghmerrill]

I've done what John recommends in the past -- and it's the way I "store" my 1924 tuba between it's more or less semi-annual uses. And I did it to my Cerveny BBb rotary tuba for a period of years. However, for my Eb Wessex tuba -- which I haven't played in about a year and a half now, I went an extra step -- primarily because I KNEW that those tight piston valves would stick if I just left them sit for that long, lubed or not.

In that case, I did everything that John recommends, and then cut four sections of PVC pipe, got end caps for them, and put the cleaned and dried pistons (fully assembled) into those for storage. That way I KNOW that when I go to get the horn out and play it I won't have stuck pistons I'll need to deal with -- and the pistons are fully protected so that nothing can accidentally affect them.

[RickF]

I had to put my horn up for 3 months about 10 yrs ago due to health reasons. I didn’t do any prep so when I got back to it my valves were stuck. Valve caps were hard to loosen too. Got everything freed eventuality.

Next time I took a long break I cleaned the horn, completely let it dry, then greased the slides and put the valves in with NO oil. Can’t remember where I read that but that worked. As long as the valves and casings were dry there’s enough clearance that they won’t get stuck. Also all valve caps were left loose.

[SteveP]

. . . . and then cut four sections of PVC pipe, got end caps for them, and put the cleaned and dried pistons (fully assembled) into those for storage. That way I KNOW that when I go to get the horn out and play it I won't have stuck pistons I'll need to deal with -- and the pistons are fully protected so that nothing can accidentally affect them.

Seems like a good idea. You might also want to consider including an oxygen absorber with the valve in the pvc pipe. They're used a lot with food storage and will suck the potentially damaging air right out of the pipe into the oxypack.

[Sara Hood]

Good news on the musical front. I do need to get more done in the way of treatment. But I have been given the green light to resume playing. I am so glad about that. My next visit is when they dealing with the uncomfortable stuff, but life can go back to somewhat normal. I have missed the music.
- Sara

[enhite]

I have been given the green light to resume playing. I am so glad about that. - Sara

Great news! Hope that things continue to improve.

[John Morgan]

Glad to hear you are back with your horn. It missed you!!

[ChristianeSparkle]

Yay, that's good!!