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Swabbing Leadpipe


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Phoenix864
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 9:48 pm    Post subject: Swabbing Leadpipe Reply with quote

Hi all,

For the past few weeks I have been swabbing out my leadpipe - it has been doing wonders in keeping debris from building up in the pipe. So far, I have been flipping the tuning slide, only inserting the top leg and running the swab through both the slide and horn at once.

However, recently I've heard some recommend against this due to the potential to bend the slide. I've been wondering if this is a legitimate concern and if I should switch to a different swabbing technique. When first using the swab it did take a pretty decent amount of force to get the swab through the slide and leadpipe - after several failed attempts to pull the swab through I had to compress the end of it on a countertop before it would fit.

I would appreciate any thoughts/opinions on the topic.
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TrumpetMD
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 13, 2020 10:49 pm    Post subject: Re: Swabbing Leadpipe Reply with quote

I do exactly what you describe. You need to be careful, to make sure the tuning slide doesn't accidentally fall out. And you don't want to pull too hard, and risk bending anything. (I use a silk swab, not a microfiber swab. So for me, it doesn't take too much effort to pull it through.)

Our own Tim Wendt has a video demonstrating this process with his Best Damn Leadpipe Swab.

Mike


Link

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Brad361
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 7:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Same here, I do exactly what Tim does in the video, his swabs work great.

Brad
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

And for those who want to remove the tuning slide and swab it independently, it only takes an extra moment. It's no big deal. So if there's a balance problem swabbing your horn with the tuning slide in, just take it out and "fuggedaboutit".
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cgaiii
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brad361 wrote:
Same here, I do exactly what Tim does in the video, his swabs work great.

Brad

Same here, swab it after every playing session. I swab both the lead pipe and the tuning bell every time, the other slides less often, but occasionally. My tuning slide does not require much shaking, the weights just slide around easily. I keep two swabs with the trumpet, one for the leadpipe and tuning slide and one for parts where the swab picks up grease, like the tuning bell.
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Aspeyrer
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I haven’t had good experiences with the best damn trumpet swab.

The way they are constructed, the cloth is prone to tearing very easily. I have two, both with tears. One of the swabs tore after the first use. (I can further elaborate if requested). Yes yes, I swab exactly as the video posted above.

However, Tim was very professional and offered to refund my mone after sending pics of the torn swabs. May as well give it a try, perhaps you’ll like it.
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Brad361
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aspeyrer wrote:
I haven’t had good experiences with the best damn trumpet swab.

The way they are constructed, the cloth is prone to tearing very easily. I have two, both with tears. One of the swabs tore after the first use. (I can further elaborate if requested). Yes yes, I swab exactly as the video posted above.

However, Tim was very professional and offered to refund my mone after sending pics of the torn swabs. May as well give it a try, perhaps you’ll like it.


Sorry to hear that; my experience has been just the opposite regarding the swabs longevity, in fact, I don’t believe I’ve had one tear yet, after a LOT of use. I guess anything can have a defect, glad to hear Tim took care of it.

Brad
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Troy Sargent
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another alternative is Blow Dry Brass. It gets the entire horn rather than just the leadpipe/slide and doesn’t have a risk of bending anything. I use it with all my horns and it keeps everything perfectly clean (as long as it was clean when you started). I bought a new horn recently (4ish months ago) and (despite professional use outdoors) with daily use of blow dry brass it still looks brand new without me having ever cleaned it.

If you do decide to go with blow dry brass get a professional chem or ultrasonic clean as the base then use it at the end of every playing day. I push in all my slides and send it through 4 times. 2x open 2x valves down squeezing it out each time
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Turkle
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Brad361 wrote:
Aspeyrer wrote:
I haven’t had good experiences with the best damn trumpet swab.

The way they are constructed, the cloth is prone to tearing very easily. I have two, both with tears. One of the swabs tore after the first use. (I can further elaborate if requested). Yes yes, I swab exactly as the video posted above.

However, Tim was very professional and offered to refund my mone after sending pics of the torn swabs. May as well give it a try, perhaps you’ll like it.


Sorry to hear that; my experience has been just the opposite regarding the swabs longevity, in fact, I don’t believe I’ve had one tear yet, after a LOT of use. I guess anything can have a defect, glad to hear Tim took care of it.

Brad


I bought mine in 2015 and it's going strong with daily use!
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LittleRusty
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I prefer to not just swab the leadpipe as this will mess with the grease where the tuning slide engages. I wonder how people who only swab the leadpipe deal with this.
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kevin_soda
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 2:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LittleRusty wrote:
I prefer to not just swab the leadpipe as this will mess with the grease where the tuning slide engages. I wonder how people who only swab the leadpipe deal with this.


It's okay to grease the lead pipe, I think. You would have to grease the slide more often.

The only reasons I can think where you wouldn't do both at the same time would be if you have a lightweight trumpet/slide with no braces there or if the fit of the slide is loose. I hold the trumpet by the bell in my left hand and wrap a finger around the slide brace when I swab.
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LittleRusty
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kevin_soda wrote:
LittleRusty wrote:
I prefer to not just swab the leadpipe as this will mess with the grease where the tuning slide engages. I wonder how people who only swab the leadpipe deal with this.


It's okay to grease the lead pipe, I think. You would have to grease the slide more often.

The only reasons I can think where you wouldn't do both at the same time would be if you have a lightweight trumpet/slide with no braces there or if the fit of the slide is loose. I hold the trumpet by the bell in my left hand and wrap a finger around the slide brace when I swab.

I wasn’t worried about the movement of the grease into the leadpipe, rather I was worried about having to add grease to the tuning crook every time the leadpipe is swabbed.
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Phoenix864
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 4:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been using Tim Wendt's swab in the way he recommends in his video. As stated by others, the main reason I prefer this method is because it prevents grease from getting on the swab and being spread around the leadpipe and tuning slide. I would hate to get grease in the mouthpiece receiver every day, and then have that grease transfer to the mouthpiece - just a big mess I wouldn't want to deal with daily.

My horn isn't a lightweight model and has a braced tuning slide (though it lacks a leadpipe brace), so it seems like it should be fine to swab with the slide flipped - it sounds like a number of you guys are doing this without issue.

For those using the Tim Wendt swab, did anyone else find that it was an extremely tight fit when first using the swab? I wasn't able to get the swab through the horn until, at Tim Wendt's recommendation, I broke it in by compressing the end against a countertop. In hindsight I probably used more force than I should have when first trying to pull the swab through - but my searching online and initial communications with Tim Wendt suggested that it was normal for the swab to be pretty tight the first couple of uses.

Have others experienced something similar, or is my definition of a lot of force just lower than most others'?
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 4:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is likely a very naïve question, but regarding getting grease on the swab, does it make a difference if you have a reverse lead pipe?

Similarly, does it matter if you remove the tuning slide and swab both parts independently?
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Last edited by kehaulani on Fri Feb 14, 2020 4:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
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cheiden
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 4:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The general point of this thread is that the act of removing a conventional leadpipe and passing a swab through it removes grease from the inside of the leadpipe and slimes up the swab.

For a conventional leadpipe, if you insert only the top leg of the tuning slide, leave the bottom leg of the tuning slide loose, then you can pass the swab through both the tuning slide and the leadpipe without dragging it over any exposed lubricant.

For a reverse leadpipe there's no problem with removing the tuning slide and passing the swab through the leadpipe because the lubricant is on the outside of the leadpipe.
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Aspeyrer
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 5:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Phoenix864 wrote:


For those using the Tim Wendt swab, did anyone else find that it was an extremely tight fit when first using the swab? I wasn't able to get the swab through the horn until, at Tim Wendt's recommendation, I broke it in by compressing the end against a countertop. In hindsight I probably used more force than I should have when first trying to pull the swab through - but my searching online and initial communications with Tim Wendt suggested that it was normal for the swab to be pretty tight the first couple of uses.

Have others experienced something similar, or is my definition of a lot of force just lower than most others'?


I’ve experienced the exact opposite. Both swabs I have are slightly too small for a Bach Large bore Bb and Yamaha C. I have to swab about 7-10 times to thoroughly dry out the lead pipe.

Does anyone have an extra older swab they’d be willing i sell? Perhaps the newer ones aren’t the same. The two I have were sent late 2019 early 2020
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kehaulani
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 7:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cheiden wrote:
The general point of this thread is that the act of removing a conventional leadpipe and passing a swab through it removes grease from the inside of the leadpipe and slimes up the swab.

For a conventional leadpipe, if you insert only the top leg of the tuning slide, leave the bottom leg of the tuning slide loose, then you can pass the swab through both the tuning slide and the leadpipe without dragging it over any exposed lubricant.

For a reverse leadpipe there's no problem with removing the tuning slide and passing the swab through the leadpipe because the lubricant is on the outside of the leadpipe.

Thanks, Cheiden. Although I have taken care of my horns, I've never taken the time to use a swab and, frankly, it seemed to never have been a problem.
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cgaiii
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 7:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

kehaulani wrote:
This is likely a very naïve question, but regarding getting grease on the swab, does it make a difference if you have a reverse lead pipe?

Similarly, does it matter if you remove the tuning slide and swab both parts independently?

Depends on the configuration of the horn. If there is grease on an inside part when you pull the swab through, you will get grease on the swab. So with a reverse lead pipe you can swab just the lead pipe and not get grease on the swab. However, I see no point in doing this. It is just as easy to swab through the tuning slide. However, if the other side of the tuning slide goes over and not into the pipe, you will get grease on the swab -- not sure I have ever seen that, but it may occur. With a standard leadpipe you want to swab with the tuning slide in if you want to avoid grease on the swab.
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cgaiii
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 7:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Troy Sargent wrote:
Another alternative is Blow Dry Brass.

Interesting. I wonder if there are any issues with isopropyl alcohol and brass. Never heard of any, but also never heard of using it on the inside of a horn before.
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Phoenix864
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 14, 2020 8:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aspeyrer wrote:
Phoenix864 wrote:


For those using the Tim Wendt swab, did anyone else find that it was an extremely tight fit when first using the swab? I wasn't able to get the swab through the horn until, at Tim Wendt's recommendation, I broke it in by compressing the end against a countertop. In hindsight I probably used more force than I should have when first trying to pull the swab through - but my searching online and initial communications with Tim Wendt suggested that it was normal for the swab to be pretty tight the first couple of uses.

Have others experienced something similar, or is my definition of a lot of force just lower than most others'?


I’ve experienced the exact opposite. Both swabs I have are slightly too small for a Bach Large bore Bb and Yamaha C. I have to swab about 7-10 times to thoroughly dry out the lead pipe.

Does anyone have an extra older swab they’d be willing i sell? Perhaps the newer ones aren’t the same. The two I have were sent late 2019 early 2020


That's interesting - both of my swabs are from early 2020 and both were an extremely tight fit for a Schagerl ML bore Bb.
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