Variations on valve oil?

[mvbach37]

I've noticed throughout my many years of playing and trying many different valve oils that some brands of oil behave and smell like others but there are others I've never run into "duplicates." I do remember in the early 1980s that I came across a bottle of Getzen valve oil that looked and smelled like Blue Juice and even in similar looking bottle. For the longest time I never ran across any that smelled like Al Cass but in the past 4 or 5 years I came across some that smelled similar to Al Cass from what I could tell which were Schilke (flat 1-1/4 oz. bottle with black print), Alorra, and Superslick 2000. They seemed to behave like it too. I think it is interesting that Superslick is really pushing the market by coming out with some new oils but some smell completely different than each other. For example, the Superslick Fast oil that just came out does not smell like Al Cass, nor does it smell like their Superslick Ultra, or their Superslick VSI (with silicone) and their SuperSynth valve oil. However the Fast oil smells similar to the oil in the white bottle with blue print. The Superslick Fast bottle is even very similar looking to Al Cass. Seems that Superslick is really getting into the market. Anyone else notice things like this throughout the years? and if you did, what were your experiences? It also seems like the newer synthetic oils are much thinner and some older petro oils seem to thicken a little with age.

[adc]

To me there is nothing like Berp
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[lipshurt]

Al cass has a smell?
It’s just mineral oil. I have never noticed a smell
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[Crazy Finn]

Hmm.... valve oil.

Most of the generic valve oil is the same, in my opinion. The store I worked for had a store branded oil and it was cheap, but it was fine for what it was. I'm sure it was pretty much the same as any other generic valve oil.

I am a bit sensitive, so if a valve oil smells, it's basically out for me. Holton is out, Bach is out (probably the same as Holton, now), 5 Starr is out. Monster is out, as well, unfortunately. There are others, I'm sure too.

I don't think Getzen was the same as Blue Juice, because Getzen was alright and not garbage.

I used Al Cass for years because it didn't smell and worked. Unfortunately, my Yamaha valves degraded to the point were it didn't work anymore and my tech gave me some synthetic "Tech Oil" which was thick but made the horn functional. A colleague advised cutting it with Al Cass to improve the speed, which worked.

I took a trumpet hiatus for about 7-8 years. I was still teaching, but I didn't really perform much, compared to the past and didn't play with any groups regularly. I started to play some of the horns I had acquired and settled on a Benge 3X and a Selmer Radial. Initially, I used Al Cass with these with decent, but not spectacular results. Once I started my job in music retail, I tried Ultra-Pure and Yamaha Synthetic, both of which are great. My Selmer works better with the Yamaha, so I generally use that. Hetman is also very good, but I have stuck with Yamaha and Ultra Pure, personally.

Those three are the gold standard oils, in my opinion. Monster is probably at that level, as well, if it doesn't bother you.

Holton and 5 Starr are probably good choices if the strong odor doesn't matter to you, though I'm not sure that they're better oils than the synthetics that I like, in any case.

I haven't messed around with Superslick, I didn't know they made other oils, though we carried the standard in our shop.

Blue Juice is outright terrible in my opinion and experience, a sentiment that is shared by the techs that worked in the shop. However, it seems to work for a few, as evidenced by some posts on TH. To each their own.
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Yamaha 731 Bb Flugelhorn

[mvbach37]

I neglected to mention that Superslick also has a T2 oil that is the same as La Tromba except a different smell from what I read on the Internet. They make from what I counted, 7 different kinds/brands of oil. I have found that if you like a particular oil, use it. Sometimes it's just a matter of trying them out as far as you're willing to go with it and if you find some you like, go with them. Each horn and player take different oil.

[HERMOKIWI]

I've used Roche-Thomas (which was recommended for Benge trumpets back when Benge trumpets were made in Burbank) as well as Al Cass, Blue Juice, Hetman and Ultra Pure. Functionally they all worked fine and I never had a problem with how they smelled.

The only problem I had was that Hetman would cause the water to come out of the horn to be a fluorescent bright yellow color which was a mess to deal with. I commented about that here on TH and others did not seem to have this problem but I certainly did. Someone suggested that I must be drinking cheap Scotch but that's not true. Lagavulin, Ardbeg and Laphroaig are not cheap! It may have been the result of a combination of the Hetman oil and Hetman slide grease infiltrating the water but I don't know for sure. All I know is that when I switched to Ultra Pure oil and slide greases the fluorescent yellow problem stopped.

Some people here on TH have commented that they experience a lot of sensitivity to which oil they use. I haven't experienced that except for the problem with Hetman. However, the oil ultimately mixes with saliva, condensed water, slide grease, etc. The saliva, in particular, is unique to the player and it certainly could have an effect on how well a particular oil works for that player and could explain differing results among players.
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HERMOKIWI

[yourbrass]

Problems arise when the valves start loosening through wear. At first, everything works, and then wear will reveal that some oils work better than others.
Berp is my choice these days, many choose Hetman, but heavier oils become necessary as valve casings (not valves) wear.
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[mvbach37]

I think all the generic store oils are pretty much the same and are cheap. They tend to very light oil and like to run off the valves when you oil and they all have the same very slight odor to them. The Brasswind valve oil smells very slightly different but is still very light oil. Yamaha's super light synthetic oil is very light and really likes to run off the valves when you oil. Companies like to change formulas every 15 or 20 years too so sometimes you don't really know if you will get the same oil you got 20 years ago. As far as I can tell Al Cass stayed the same though when they went from the eye dropper bottles in the early 1980s to the current style bottle the formula seemed to smell different and it behaved differently. Five Starr changed his in the mid to late 90s I think. It is now odorless and now he doesn't make the blue and red oil but is now only making the clear oil.