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I live two hours from a competent brass technician. Two hours to Uncle Matt @ Dillions and Two hours to see the boys at Baltimore Brass.

This, plus an insanely busy schedule, means I never get to take my Eb Bass to get serviced. Occasionally, I'll run a couple HERCO Spitballs through the horn to force evacuate any gunk inside.

Over the past two months, I've been noticing some degradation of my sound quality. Recently, it's gotten a lot worse.

Yesterday was teh final straw. After the 3rd pass of said Spitball, the bottom of my rest looked like this.
Gross and WTF!

I mustered up the courage to give my horn a well deserved bath.

I think what grossed me out the most is when I took off the bottom valve cap. Inside the bottom of each valve was this.
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. No wonder why things were sounding woofy.

I cleaned out each tuning slide and ran some brushes through the valve ports. Once the giant ass tub was filled, I soaked my horn. I may or may not have gotten in with the horn, but that's another story for another audience.

Ran brushes and snake through every possible opening. Horn rinsed well. Wasn't overly heavy. The scariest part was lifting the horn out of the tub and onto the towel. One slip and OH CRAP!
Separately cleaned the valve slides and valves. The amount of residue and crud was substantial.

It was late, my spouse was asleep. I quietly reassembled the horn back together and went back down to my practice lair to test it out.

WHAT A HUGE FREAKING DIFFERENCE. That's all I have to say. I also have to say do not let 7-8 months go by without cleaning your horn.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

My NStar is currently getting cleaned by pros because they said they could have it back to me before the next rehearsal. It won't be that dirty because it only gets played once a week, but 4th valve was getting clanky. My horn, OTOH, I probably don't want to know about, but I do follow the "brush your teeth before playing" rule.

I keep a toothbrush and toothpaste in my bag of banding (also known as the Band of Bagging). I need to be more consistent and use it.

It was so gross.

I also try to plan meals far enough between eating and playing to minimize particles getting in. If you're hyrdating enough, it helps. Ideally, I want 30-60 minutes before picking up the horn.

I do drink coffee while practicing, though. But I don't think that has a lot of issues.

I was just talking to a friend about how our old teacher had red rot on a Hirschbrunner euphonium lead pipe after a few years of owning it. Apparently he had a Diet Coke addiction that caused it, and had a hell of a time getting a new lead pipe for it.

Also, from what I understand, keeping the moving parts well-lubricated helps to discourage that sludge growth, too.

I'm curious how much and how often you play this horn. That's a lot of gunk. Agreed that regular cleaning and adequate lubrication are very important. Along with conscientious dietary habits before playing.

In college, I always carried a toothbrush and toothpaste with me... and never played without brushing first.

My friends always wondered why my valves never got stuck and gunked up. "Yah mate, that's a real head scratcher"

And yes, lifting a tuba full of water out of a bathtub sucks, but it's not so bad. It's just time to be strong, and lift from the thickest part you can handle.

Just gave my Sousaphone a bath because after several beer drinking gigs.. all the valve pets were covered in that gunk film.. just gross.

Grumpikins wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2026 6:58 pm I'm curious how much and how often you play this horn. That's a lot of gunk. Agreed that regular cleaning and adequate lubrication are very important. Along with conscientious dietary habits before playing.

Almost every day.

A few years back I was subbing for this really good community band. One of there sponsors would bring in treats, cookies and such, for the band to consume during rehearsal breaks. I never understood why they did this until I found out the sponsor was a band instrument company. I wonder if they were trying to generate more cleaning jobs.

bort2.0 wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2026 9:16 pm In college, I always carried a toothbrush and toothpaste with me... and never played without brushing first.

My friends always wondered why my valves never got stuck and gunked up. "Yah mate, that's a real head scratcher"

I've been playing long enough I am self-conscious about it. I carry toothpaste/toothbrush and mouthwash in my band of bagging. 9 months of solid playing and here we were.

bort2.0 wrote: Sat Apr 04, 2026 9:18 pm And yes, lifting a tuba full of water out of a bathtub sucks, but it's not so bad. It's just time to be strong, and lift from the thickest part you can handle.

I thought I was the thickest part. LOL.