So, this starts with a little story. A few weeks ago I was in my hometown of Bournemouth, staying with my parents for just 2 days. It was a Sunday morning, and just after breakfast, my Dad, Rex (80 in a few weeks time !!), who still plays euphonium, asked me if I could take a look at the valves on his old Sovereign 968  and asked me how to clean inside the tubes that you can't normally get to, ie, between the valves etc. Well, I tested the valves; ok, but noisy, as the felts all needed replacing. Fortunately I had bag of spare parts with me, as I tend to have when I'm on the road, and I quickly changed over the whole set, cleaned and oiled the valves and they worked great, and very quiet.

So, I thought I'd just play it for a few minutes.. After one note...I knew there was a problem. The Notes didn't 'centre', no resonance, and a really poor weak sound. I told my Dad, ‘We had a problem'...and he said he thought it must have been him, getting older etc !!! My instinct told me there was a blockage somewhere, perhaps on the back main branch. I tried shaking it, tapping it. And then used a long metal wire with a brush on the end, a snake, as  it's called in the profession. I took out the main tuning slide and tried to push this snake through the tubing and hopefully right round until it could be visible down inside the bell. It didn't get that far !!! In fact it wouldn't go more than 30 cms. There was a major blockage. Next we went into the garden and put the garden hose inside to try to dislodge whatever it was. Clearly not working, we went inside again, stood the instrument upside down and with the main tuning slide removed, poured in some hot water and dishwater detergent, with the intention of letting it soak and hopefully it would soften/dislodge whatever it was. I got a stronger wire and tried to push again....finally something started to move..my fishing instincts taught me patience is a virtue in thiese situations, and we kept going, over and over to push it further around. 10 minutes later half a wooden clothes peg appeared, followed by the other half, along with its corroded spring. Success. Feeling pleased, we reassembled the instrument and I tested it again.....

Still there was a problem. It was better for sure, but still not a resonant sound. So, we tried the wire again and sure enough there was a still a blockage. After another 10 minutes, a second clothes peg appeared, whole, intact but clearly one that hadn't seen the light of day for a while !!

Now, the instrument played just perfectly.

So, this is an extreme example of two clothes pegs that found a new home during, one presumes, a summer concert, but methinks maybe last summer !! But every week I meet players and students who really should look after their instruments better, with instruments, that have, commonly: noisy, unlubricated valves, with compressed valve felts, springs that are either sitting wrong in the instrument or that have become distorted , resulting in a noisy metallic sound, slides that don't move, valve top and bottom caps that won't loosen at all, corroded water key corks, mouthpipes obviously clogged up with years of 'neglect' ! I meet players who've invested thousands of pounds on euphs with a trigger and simply have failed to keep them clean and lubricated...really  incredible.

So, think about your instrument now. What kind of condition is it in?

My recommendations for upkeep are (and I'm making a video to back this up):

Every 2 weeks

1. Take out the valves, clean them thoroughly, rinse and dry. Add high quality valve oil, like the Denis Wick Advanced Formula valve oil and replace. Make sure the top and bottom caps can always be opened.
2. Check condition of water key corks.
3. If you have a triggered euph: remove the trigger, carefully wash and clean the tuning slides legs. Dry it, add fresh lubricant. I strongly recommend the white cream, like Conn Superslick trombone slide cream. Do NOT use valve oil, it doesn't work for main tuning slides with a trigger. Do not use normal grease (too heavy) and no engine oil type products you find in the shed !! I'm seen it !

Every 6 weeks:

1. Remove the 1^st valve and 1^st valve bottom cap. Push a brush (on a wire, the ‘snake') through the mouthpiece receiver and through the leadpipe and into the 1^st valve casing. Rinse inside. You';ll be amazed how make ‘debris' can collect. It seriously affects the performance of your instrument if dirt id allowed to build up here.
2. Remove and clean all the valve slides, add new grease (Vaseline is as good as any) and replace.

Every 3 months:

Bath time for the instrument; remove every thing that can be removed first !! Let the instrument soak with a mild detergent for 20 minutes in a warm bath, put the slides in warm water in the sink. Using a shower attachment rinse, aided with a snake, to clean all the inner tube, taking care not to do it too aggressively. Rinse thoroughly.  Then carefully reassemble the instrument adding lubricants as before.

Every 6 months:

Go into the garden with your instrument !! remove the main tuning slide only. Put a high pressure water jet through the lead pipe, to clear out collected debris from the ‘hard to get to' tubes in the middle of the instrument. Replace main tuning slide...job done !

Every 9 months:

Replace all valve felts, top and bottom.

All the time:

Try to keep the outside clean, it makes a difference and shows the rest of the world that you take a pride in playing in your band !  Others don't see the inside but it will help you sound better. Guaranteed !

Good luck.

Steve