Stuck Slides: Trumpet Instrument Repair 

I actually knew this guy growing up. Years later (and perhaps many miles apart), he's still helping me out getting my tuning slide unstuck.

*Plays the trumpet* "I'm a accordion player"

Definitely see a qualified repair person to have it fixed.

Theres a hole in my wall from a flying slide

MSgt! Thanks for taking the time to make this video! I used to play baritone horn, and my well intentioned sister bought a used trumpet for my niece and suddenly I was on triage duty two days before Christmas! Most of the stuff I was able to figure out just because the instruments have so much in common, but I'd never let my baritone horn go so far that the slides got stuck like this. Never would have thought of chapstick, either. Thank you for your service!

I've used a hand towel and put it through the bend. I recommend you spread the towel along the inside of the curve and then with someone's help to hold the instrument, I would pull with constant force and small yanks until the slide pops loose. It's always worked for me in the 2 times I had to do this over 59 years of playing Brass Instruments. I learned not to let my slides get to that point of needing any kind of force; however, others are a different story. Sometimes younger players have to learn things the hard way. :-)

Thanks, Master Sergeant!

Thank you for posting. I have such a problem with a trumpet valve. Your info video gives me more information and will be very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to post your video. Also I play the accordian, thanks again.

Great video Dale. You are the best!

I used valve oil to loosen the slide Up. worked Just fine

Thanks for the great advice. A chemical cleaning helped get the rusty stuff off. Thanks to you and the chemical cleaning, I was able to restore a $1500 Getzen to almost new condition. The trumpet had cost $100 on ebay, and the cleaning and a stuck slide fixed cost $65. Pretty good and sounds very sweet! The Getzen models are completely hand made and hand snipped...and this one in particular had a very lovely tone. Continued....

Thanks for your help MSG Barton! Former 7ID.

What penetrating oil do you use?

My trumpet slide has been stuck for atleast 2-3 years. Im in a high school band and have been wanting to get my slide unstuck. Thanks for this video I'm gonna have to try it at school tomorrow :)!!!

This is so useful at so many levels

Didn’t know I would be getting music advice from a soldier

Thank you!!!! I’m also an accordion player but I’d say you play trumpet very well!!!

Really helpful. Thanks a lot!

Thanks MSG, never even considered using cork grease before. Considering I already have some on hand for my clarinet, I will start keeping some in my trumpet case.

Our repair person has never tried CLP, although he did contact the manufacturer. The company's customer care rep told him CLP would be safe to use on musical instruments.

you rock MSG!

Thank you so much I had my tuning slide stuck since 6th grade and I finally fixed it thank you

Thank you for that!

i really like how practical and simple your videos are! i double on trumpet and clarinet, and this is the first time i heard someone recommend using cork grease as slide grease :) question: aside from wd40, what is a decent penetrating oil? what do i look for?

Thank you very much

thank you it really works

This is great. I'm an accordionist too.

Thanks Sarge👍🎺

Thank you so mutch.

Vaseline will do in a pinch. There are many commercial products available for lubricating tuning slides. Most professionals use a heavy to medium tuning slide grease on the tuning slide and second valve slide. The first and third valve slides need to move quickly so a lighter lubricant is used. If you don't have an appropriate lube for 1 & 3, sometimes you can use heavier grease and thin it by adding in some light oil. Experimentation will be your best guide here.

Great series! One suggestion.. When showing how to do something (ie the hair bands on the water key) an extreme closeup would be worth 1000 medium shots. Thank you for posting though. Some great battlefield triage methods here!!

Great tutorial! I've got a Bach Stradivarius that's had a stuck main slide for 30+ years. I'm going to try and get it unstuck. Wish me luck. Cheers!

Can I spray penetrating oil into my mouthpiece receiver to free a stuck slide? It's a really old horn and it's probably been sitting for years. The main tuning slide is pushed all the way in so it's kinda hard to apply the oil the regular way.

Can you tell me what penetrating oil was used (oil in the bottle with the needle) besides WD-40? Thank You

what about CLP from my weapons cleaning gear? do you think that will help break up some of the corrosion?

can i make the third slide (the one so that D won't be out of tune, the one with the ring) really loose like this? I need to get that slide really loose so that I wont have to use a lot of effort to jut it out when I play a D

Thanks

I have an old conn director ( 1968) and my second valve slide is 100% stuck. My nub on it broke off when we tried getting it off and we have done everything to fix it. What should I do?

Roger, Master Sargeant!

Question: How do you get rid of the rust once you get the slide or stuck valve caps off? I still haven't been able to get out a stuck main tuning slide, but I finally got off the last bottom valve cap that was a problem. The penetrating oil worked after several hours. Anyway, rust was a huge problem (IS). The threads where the caps were are very rusty. What is best to remove those without scarring the metal? Hope somebody has a suggestion. Thanks!

thank you for the video. i have a problem with this trumpet we got tonight. we removed the slide, but the slide has another tube over the top that someone put on backwards.(its from the 30s and modern trumpets dont have this) and so anyway we can see that it is VERY corroded and we put oil on it and we also tried heating it up very very carefully with a small propane torch to try to open it up. but alas, it still wont come off. is there some other way we can get it off maybe some sort of acidic solution that will eat away at the corrosion and oxidation but not harm the brass/silver?

Does this also work for cornet?

I have a question I hope someone can answer. I have an old 60’s era Martin Imperial. And was cleaning it today and upon reaming the first tuning slide lower leg, I had a piece of brass pipe come out that is the same diameter as the pipe on the tuning slide that goes into the fixed tubing on the trumpet that accommodates the tuning pipe. The piece of tubing I found is about two inches long. Does anyone know the purpose of this piece of tubing? I’m thinking someone might have put it in there to balance the airflow between the upper and lower legs of the tuning slide as they are cut in such a way that the upper is longer than the lower.

Though the penetrating oil didn't work on the stuck slide, it did help a lot with getting a couple of the valve caps off. Great advice, but I would suggest telling the chemical cleaning guy about the penetrating oil, just in case it would be a hazard to him or whatever. Please make more of these? Especially for the French Horn????

cool

I play Sousaphone and it has some leaks in the valves how can I fix it

como faço para retirar as bombas do meu trompete que está preso já faz tempo

Old stuck instrument parts should be taken to a shop. Putting lots of force on a stuck slide or part can damage the horn. If you were able to disassemble everything, you can remove the corrosion at home by immersing the parts in plain white vinegar. Immerse parts for 30 min then clean with dish soap and examine. If they still have oxide and hard water deposits stuck to them, repeat the soaking.

Thankyou for all.... But what is the commercial name Of the oil...? I follow you..... Greetings from México....

Any tips for a loose tuning slide? My son's tuning slide keeps falling out. I'm trying to find someone who knows how to fix it. I've seen some references online to having it heated up and expanded, but I don't know how common that is. If it can't be expanded, could we have the end of the slide plated in copper to make it a little thicker?

Great advice, but I would take issue with your recommendation to use 'vaseline' because it sets solid when dry and in my experience is often itself the cause of stuck slides which have been neglected. Better to use a silicone based product especially formulated for the purpose. Indeed you did recommend cork grease which serves the same function. If your instrument is going to be unused for any more than a few days leave all slides partially out and loosen all valve caps. It makes restoring the instrument far easier.

I had no idea there were any such MOS's like this!! Im guessing its pretty much impossible to get.

It worked for me. I was skeptical that the WD40 would work. I let it process overnight. Re-applied a little the next day and pulled it out with a gentle pull.

I'm a beginning trumpet player in 8th grade, although school is ending soon. I want the next person to have a decent trumpet. I'll see what I can do with this and I'll eventually fix it.. hopefully..

My euphonium has had its main tuning slide has been stuck and rusted shut due to not being played for 75 years what do

Any tips on getting the bottom valve caps off? my valve caps got stuck and I dont want to torque the casing trying to get them off.

What is the penetrating oil that you are using? I tried the WD40 and it didnt' work. My slide was all the way closed

For the slide you use vaselline and..?

Courses in any CAD program helps as well btw.

can i just use blue juice valve oil?

Penetrating oil is different from regular oil?

Herodotus3 - After applying some penetrating oil (I use 3-in-1, or something lighter), let the instrument sit overnight, bracing it so the oil will work downward without falling over. Next day, tap the tuning slide on all sides with a rawhide mallet, or even a small hard rubber mallet (nothing metal!!!} and see if that helps loosen things up. It may take a few applications and taps to do the job. Time is your friend. If it doesn't happen right away, do it all again, and again. In my limited experience, eventually even the most stuck tuning slides will free up. Good luck!

What if your slides are too lubricated? Because I'm in the marching band, and because my slides are always extremely lubricated, I constantly have to worry about losing my tuning slide when we have snaps from attention to horns up. What can I do to make it a bit stiffer (but not stuck) and without damaging the quality of the horn or the slides?

I can tell you over a week later the valves on the trumpet are stuck. I have sprayed wd40 on them and let it sit but nothing. I believe they have not been lubricated for many years. Also d ring ad well. Gonna take it to get serviced. Waiting on your answer about possible buffing sratches all the way down to metal that show rust. Or what would it cost to get redipped?? Might be worth it if not expensive

"Use the grime and grit that's in there to polish this..." No no no! Clean it first. The last thing you want to do is to scratch up the tubing surfaces with dirt and grit. If you remove the gunk first, you'll probably find that it will slide just fine without any further work. You shouldn't have to 'polish' anything at all - assuming the slide moved properly when it was first put together, all you need to do is to return it to its original surface dimension.

I know this has nothing to do with the video. I play with a Vincent Bach 1B and it is good for low notes but not high. I was thinking about switching to a 3C, 3CW, and 3D. The 3C and the 3CW are the same thing except that 3CW is for people with thicker lips. Both are middle ranged I guess you could say. The 3D is for the high register. I'm not sure what to choose can anyone help me.

What's a "good quality penetrating oil" ?? And what is "awhile" ?

My trumpet is silver plated, any special instructions for it?

I am a middle school honors band student . my problem is that my D tuning slide ( kickout slide ) is completely stuck . I didn't want to pull it hard but I did pull it soft but it still didn't come out because I don't have the oil for slides . I'm going to watch this video 😊

I have a trumpet the 2nd valve slide won't pull out, what should I do?

RULE OF THUMB, MOVE ALLOF YOUR CAPS AND SLIDES EVERY DAY. AN OUNCE OF PREVETION EQUALS A POUND OF CURE

Is there anyway to buff out or get rid of the rust spots where there are scratches.? I just bought a Yamaha 2320e. For less than $100 and it was missing case and mouthpiece and the slide valves are stuck. I have already put wd40 on them do waiting for that to penetrate. Other than that the horn is in good condition with a few scratches that have some rust. Any way to get the rust out? Thanks in advance

Thank you so much for this, my tuning slide got stuck and I got so scared. 😅

Thanks from a jarhead!!

what kind of oil

I know that you are part of the Army, however I'm not sure the military path is right for me. I have been thinking I would like to manufacture brass instruments however. I would need a degree in Engineering for that. Do you know which degree of Engineering would fit that category?

How long dose it take for this to work?

Wait. Did you say you can use chapstick on tuning slides?

my tuning slide keeps sliding out when ever I blow in to the instrument

The slide valve I'm working on doesn't pull out enough to get oil into by any means, even with a pipe cleaner or extremely fine dropper. I guess it's to the repair shop. A perfectly beautiful Getzen somebody didn't take care of and didn't clean and didn't oil/grease prior to storing it away for years. Any help beyond what he recommends here...? Anybody? Imagine repairing an accordion. Good grief that must be the worst of all. (:

What about the slide that's next to the one you worked on?

My slide is really stuck and I can't get it un stuck what's the best method to take it out I tried the wd-40 but it didn't work please help

I use cork grease for my trumpet

PB Blaster to get the slide out. Attack it from outside and inside - use a funnel to get a drooling amount down the leadpipe, shoot it into the hole in the 3rd valve. WD 40 is not a penetrating oil nor meant for lubrication - it's designed for water displacement - ergo its name.

Red hunt!!!

My trumpet's 3rd valve slide was really loose, then eventually it completely fell out, even after pressurizing it. When I put it back on, it was extremely stiff and I can only move it with my thumb, anybody have any ideas?

A person at a music store said no trombone slide grease or form grease on tuning slides, we're they helping me or trying to make me spend 3.99

My band gives trumpets cork grease for our slides

There is no gap for me too add wd40. All my slides are all the way in and the oil is no going in

What is the best oil to use?

Mechanical engineering with a minor in metallurgy.

I can't get mine out and now it is very dry and about the same color as the instrument itself :(

I just bend my trumpet slide 70 degrees works fine

I’m using a school trumpet and I’m betting all of the slides have been stuck for at least 10 years and I tried wd40 and liquid wrench and it’s still stuck any other ways to get them unstuck

I hate when that happens!

My band director says to use sand paper to fix the slode

Every brass instrument on ebay is going to have one or all severally stuck slides. That's why they are on ebay and ebay does not give a shit about buyers ever. I'm still re-inventing the wheel since "penetrating oil" is an absolute myth in all of my experience, 1 hour or 24 little if any difference, always insufficient. Other things to try, light mechanical shock as frequently mentioned by professionals in their RU-vid videos. I'll be trying alternating heat & cooling to get some movement between corrosion frozen parts. Common homebrew penetrating oil is 50% Automatic Transmission Fluid and 50% acetone. Do not use any acids or bases or ammonia to clean brass (as is frequently recommended) it dissolves and removes zinc, leaving copper appearing as "red rot". As routine care, take apart and soak in soapy water, then rinse (as frequently recommended) Myelf, I may just rinse with hot water and vacuum out the water & dry inside by holding all valves down and using blow dryer (preferred over heatgun for this use since air supply is far larger) Then disassemble and oil valves with mineral oil , and lube slides with lanolin. Mineral Oil and Vaseline are "generally recognized as safe" for use on people. Lanolin is the grease removed from sheep's wool in initial hot water cleaning. I just like it way more on slides than Vaseline.

Check with a repair person. It just might be a little loose.

WHAT THE HELL! you mean i could have joined the Army to work on band instruments!!??? I feel, ripped off!

Glory! Glory! Korea!