Posted by humble on February 15, 2004 at 10:58:11:
In Reply to: Re: Valve Oil vs. Light Machine Oil posted by Gary Swart on February 14, 2004 at 22:41:25:
You misunderstand. I don't mind paying more for something if there is a difference in quality. I believe that was my original question, whether valve oil was anything more than mere "machine oil" put into little "valve oil" bottles and marked up. If valve oil is indeed engineered specifically for brass instrument valves AND works better for that purpose (as opposed to being engineered for it but being no better than a more common product) than it is certainly worth some sort of premium. I am aware that it would be incredibly "penny wise and pound foolish" to save $2.00 on oil and as a consequence damage a tuba worth several thousand dollars. To date I haven't used anything but valve oil. I asked about valve oils because I am truly curious to know why a more common machine oil wouldn't work in my tuba, and if so, why shouldn't I use it? Certainly, brass players a hundred years ago didn't have all the different lubricants that we have today, what did they use? Did their instruments wear more rapidly, valves stick more frequently than they do today?