Maintaining Your Harrelson Trumpet
The Leadpipe and Tuning Slide are the most crucial parts of a trumpet and must be cleaned weekly with a Leadpipe swab or a cleaning snake. A professional ultrasonic cleaning or chemical dip is recommended only when needed as these process can accelerate the wear of any brass/steel instrument.
SILVER PLATE: Silver plated instruments should be wiped down with microfiber polishing cloth after every use. Brushed finishes may be restored by cutting 3M Scotchbrite Gray pads into 1" x 2" pieces and re-brushing underwater. Take great care to rinse and swab all pistons, casings, and slides before re-assembly to prevent scratching mating surfaces.
GOLD PLATE: Gold plated instruments should be wiped down with microfiber polishing cloth after every use. NEVER USE POLISH ON A GOLD PLATED HORN. Gold is a non-reactive metal but will wear easily. A professional leather valve guide is recommended, which will require regular cleaning and inspection to prevent dirt/debris wear between the leather and gold plating.
RAW METAL: A tarnished Raw Brass surface requires no maintenance. Polishing Raw Brass is not recommended as it is tedious and will tarnish quickly. In cases where you want to avoid tarnish, apply Carnauba wax or a skin safe waterproof coating to prevent oxidation. All Stainless Steel components should be oiled inside and outside every week to prevent surface oxidation.
OTHER ELEMENTS: Instruments with wood, leather, and other metals require special care and maintenance. Do not chemically clean any instruments with wood or leather. Please call for instructions on your specific instruments.
SATURN WATER KEYS: Saturn Water Keys were invented by Dennis Wedgwood of the UK. They are operated by pressing the circular Saturn Ring towards the center Planet. These should be disassembled and cleaned with a cotton swab and alcohol every time you clean your trumpet. Coat with valve oil before assembly. When unscrewing the Saturn cap take care not to lose the spring as it is under pressure. Water keys with metal rings may rattle or make noise. This can be eliminated by coating all parts with thick tuning slide grease.
MOD KIT COMPONENTS: Harrelson Custom Mod Kits are smooth and can be slippery. When removing tight caps, we recommend cleaning the surface with rubbing alcohol, then apply a piece of masking tape around the surface to add grip. Grease all threads with tuning slide grease after every cleaning. If your caps become stuck you may loosen them by using 1/8" thick rubber strip and regular pliers. If storing your trumpet for more than 1 month loosen all top and bottom caps. All Harrelson top and bottom caps were carefully machined to be a very tight fit to increase overall standing wave efficiency.
SLIDES: All slides are lapped & fit to be perfectly parallel for easy use. Some Harrelson Models are intentionally designed to have very few slide braces. Take great care to prevent bumping these slides, causing them to go out of parallel. If your slides suddenly become difficult to move, have your repair technician check for parallelism. *** Repair technicians may find it easiest to reheat one or more of the slide joints to achieve parallel.
RECOMMENDED SLIDE GREASE
Selmer Tuning Slide Grease (Red/White bottle) for all threads, tuning slide and 2nd slide
SuperLube Light Oil for 1st and 3rd slides and any moving parts (except valves)
RECOMMENDED VALVE OIL
UltraPure
SILVER PLATE: Silver plated instruments should be wiped down with microfiber polishing cloth after every use. Brushed finishes may be restored by cutting 3M Scotchbrite Gray pads into 1" x 2" pieces and re-brushing underwater. Take great care to rinse and swab all pistons, casings, and slides before re-assembly to prevent scratching mating surfaces.
GOLD PLATE: Gold plated instruments should be wiped down with microfiber polishing cloth after every use. NEVER USE POLISH ON A GOLD PLATED HORN. Gold is a non-reactive metal but will wear easily. A professional leather valve guide is recommended, which will require regular cleaning and inspection to prevent dirt/debris wear between the leather and gold plating.
RAW METAL: A tarnished Raw Brass surface requires no maintenance. Polishing Raw Brass is not recommended as it is tedious and will tarnish quickly. In cases where you want to avoid tarnish, apply Carnauba wax or a skin safe waterproof coating to prevent oxidation. All Stainless Steel components should be oiled inside and outside every week to prevent surface oxidation.
OTHER ELEMENTS: Instruments with wood, leather, and other metals require special care and maintenance. Do not chemically clean any instruments with wood or leather. Please call for instructions on your specific instruments.
SATURN WATER KEYS: Saturn Water Keys were invented by Dennis Wedgwood of the UK. They are operated by pressing the circular Saturn Ring towards the center Planet. These should be disassembled and cleaned with a cotton swab and alcohol every time you clean your trumpet. Coat with valve oil before assembly. When unscrewing the Saturn cap take care not to lose the spring as it is under pressure. Water keys with metal rings may rattle or make noise. This can be eliminated by coating all parts with thick tuning slide grease.
MOD KIT COMPONENTS: Harrelson Custom Mod Kits are smooth and can be slippery. When removing tight caps, we recommend cleaning the surface with rubbing alcohol, then apply a piece of masking tape around the surface to add grip. Grease all threads with tuning slide grease after every cleaning. If your caps become stuck you may loosen them by using 1/8" thick rubber strip and regular pliers. If storing your trumpet for more than 1 month loosen all top and bottom caps. All Harrelson top and bottom caps were carefully machined to be a very tight fit to increase overall standing wave efficiency.
SLIDES: All slides are lapped & fit to be perfectly parallel for easy use. Some Harrelson Models are intentionally designed to have very few slide braces. Take great care to prevent bumping these slides, causing them to go out of parallel. If your slides suddenly become difficult to move, have your repair technician check for parallelism. *** Repair technicians may find it easiest to reheat one or more of the slide joints to achieve parallel.
RECOMMENDED SLIDE GREASE
Selmer Tuning Slide Grease (Red/White bottle) for all threads, tuning slide and 2nd slide
SuperLube Light Oil for 1st and 3rd slides and any moving parts (except valves)
RECOMMENDED VALVE OIL
UltraPure