Have temporarily acquired a trombone for my son to have a play on over the summer holidays, in readiness for him hopefully getting a school one in September.

It's very old and battered and has probably sat in the case for years without ever being played but was obviously a very nice one once - I picked it up and got some beautiful notes out of it, tone-wise, in various octaves / harmonics, although the placing of the slidey thing was a bit of a mystery - don't have the ear for it

Only problem is, it smells really vile, like mouldy / damp socks mixed in with a funny metallic smell

Any suggestions about what I can do to reduce its offensiveness a bit without a major overhaul? I can't imagine Chris wanting to go anywhere near it as it is

Give it a bath, same as you might do with your son if HE was smelly!

This article on trumpet care gives the general idea, and I am sure the trombonists on board with come up with more specific advice.

bleugh...buy him a violin instead!

I had a quick look at this thread - and the article and realised how much I love flutes.

One thing I'll take away from the article is "DO NOT use toothpaste,"

i have played the baritone for 3 years and it also has a smell. i tried bathing it and washing it but it just doesn't work! has anyone got a cure?

thanks

PS: is there any other baritone/euphonium palyers out there?

I dabble a bit on Euph...I'm a trombonist but can play up to about grade 5 standard. There are a few euph players on here though

No idea on how to get rid of the smell apart from put a peg on your nose

Take the mouthpiece off, drop as much fairy liquid as you can down the lead pipe, attach a hose pipe to lead pipe and give it a good blasting! Make sure you dry it fully, then give it lashings of slide paste & valve oil.

Call a plumber?


Maybe there's something nasty lurking round one of those bends.....

LOL, I've never heard of doing that! Cracking idea though!

My trumpet tastes metallic if I suck rather than blow. Its not so bad now, but when it was new - Yuk!

Go with Phil's advice on this one. Trombones arent so bad as they arent as complex as a trumpet of Euphonium. Could you drop some white spirit down it to get rid of any grease and old spit that is down there? Maybe you should leave it in the bath over night for a good soaking!!

Cripes, I don't think white spirit is such a good idea...I've always used a drop of dettol in the past, and hot (but definitely not boiling) water. After a rinse through, that's about it.

i've that many times though it never works.
i might give sue and phils idea a try

Oh god don't use white spirit!! appart from potentially posioning your self! and inhaling the fumes!
I hate to think what would happen if any one lighted a match near you!!

Go to the music shop and get some brass soap, and a good long cleaning brush flexible that might help and use luke warm water.

Check the slide oil/grease that you are using is ok as some time it can have a strong smell other than that i think it may just be a 'old' instrument smell!'

I play Euphonium a little! ... you should have seen what came out of that when i cleaned it!!

Make sure you clean it regulary! I clean my horn about once a month, which reminds me, I should clean it soon (takes hours! Too many slides!). Use a pull thought or a snake, a long flexable covered wire with a pipe cleaner bit thingy. You can get one quite cheaply off paxman (www.paxman.co.uk) I know its a horn site but its the cheapest one I've found

I clean my trumpet about once a year, i can usually tell when it is due for a clean as the tone gets a bit 'hissy' then after i've cleaned it the tone is a bit harsh, then after a couple of band sessions it has returned to normal..
there is a usual coating of 'vertigree' inside the horn (like green alage) it helps the tone i think.
but if la horn is left unplayed it goes like concrete!

A red herring, but you may find this amusing.
Our Chemistry teacher at school had a bee in his bonnet about the word smell.
For example if you said 'That stuff smells horrible' this would be his answer:-
'No that substance does not smell. Indeed, it cannot smell because it doesnt have a nose. You have a nose so you can smell. That stuff there stinks.

So there you have it , a trombone doesnt smell , it stinks !

Well the good news is that it doesn't "stink" any more We bathed it with the help of a trombone-playing friend (actually she bathed it whilst we watched!!) and it's much better now.

Thanks for all the advice

Well, it does actually still stink, we have bathed it again, and bathing it seems to help for a day or two, then it goes back to being quite foul

Chris is also having problems with condensation building up in the mouthpiece - every four notes or so, he stops and wipes it out with a tissue because he says the smell from it is unbearable. I've tried getting him to keep the whole thing angled downwards so that everything dribbles to the end of the slide where he can blow it out of the little hole, but we're still finding the mouthpiece is filling up very quickly.

He has only had one lesson (30 min group lesson with a load of cornet players ) and then his teacher has been off sick ever since, so although he's doing quite well on his own (with a bit of help from me and the tutor book) I am worried that he will quickly get disillusioned by the smell / condensation problems and lose interest before he's really given it a proper go.

Any suggestions? I am wondering whether it really is because this trombone is so old, it's never going to be a pleasant experience. That would be a shame because it actually sounds lovely. We might look at renting one, but I wasn't sure if we would just encounter the same problems with a newer one, or if it's something that only happens to old neglected trombones......

I only have experience of my daughter's trombone. This is a rented one but it was brand new when we got it last year. It doesn't smell of anything. She doesn't have condensation problems with the mouthpiece either; when she has finished playing she just empties it out of the valve (?) at the bottom of the slide.

Does the case smell as well? I was just wondering if maybe the case has gone a bit mouldy from having had a slightly damp instrument stored it for years and if this is what is then making the trombone itself smell.

A spurious reply for a laugh, but our Chemistry teacher had a bee in his bonnet about this. I'm changing his 'substance' into 'trombone'

"That trombone does not , indeed cannot smell ! Because it doesnt have a nose ! We can smell because we have a nose, indeed we can smell the trombone. What that Trombone does, it stinks! '

I guess he was right in terms of correct English ! So this thread shoud be 'How to stop a trombone from stinking!'

That's what you said in post 16 of this thread too

If I could change the title of the thread, I would My son would far rather say stink than smell anyday It has more panache, does it not?

Oops, must be senility coming in. I dont remember making that post before but its there for all to see.





I think you mean 'Verdigris' (pronounced french style vairdigree) Its actually copper carbonate. A bit of oxidation from the brass will form on the surface, then react with carbon dioxide in the air, and become green copper carbonate. The same thing happens to copper roofs which go green.
Verdigris should be easily removable with a weak acid like vinegar. Sorry but I am a chemist by trade !

Lol. Atleast then he can burn it to keep him warm while he finds something to clean it with. Was that the idea?




I'm a euphonium player. I have my performance diploma and i play for a band called GUS.


Personally i don't clean my euphonium that often i think it is about once a year but i think if you play it alot and i mean alot it won't get that bad unless you eat sweets or something before playing.

A friend once told me he used Coke to clean his euph but i've not tried because although in theory it would work i can't help thinking it would be a bit sticky.

I actually just use soap and water for most of the instrument. Make sure you clean your mouth piece as well though!

We solved most of the problems by getting a new mouthpiece, the lacquer / coating had worn off the old one and that seemed to be causing most of the problems.

He's really enjoying playing it now

Well you have to clean them regularly to keep them clean enough so that they dont smell.

Fill a bath with luke warm water and add a couple of cap fulls of mouthwash into it.

Use a pull-through to clean all of the pipes, and place the mouthpiece in a mug of boiling water to sterilise it.

Also use brasso or duraglit on the unlaquered parts; gold instruments will go dull if you use brasso on them.



If you let it have a nice long soak, it should be alright :]

x

My son's trumpet teacher swears by lemon juice for the cleaning of the trumpet, but I've never dared try. I have visions of trying to strain out all the little juice sacs before I actually get to clean the trumpet. We'd be at the job all day.

If you think that was bad, you should have smelled my son's trombone a couple of weeks ago.

We have a very elderly cat and he got shut in the music room. He'd obviously crossed his legs as long as he could, but eventually nature called and there was a lovely soft fluffy thing there, all ready and waiting. You've guessed it - son had left his case open and the cat...well....let's just say we had to go out and buy him a new case!

Some of his music for the school concert was also despoiled but the teacher was good enough to supply new copies. He did comment that he'd never heard of that happening before!

Son always closes his (new) case now!