Posted by Mike on July 12, 2000 at 16:38:13:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Silver polish for my Monster Sousaphone? posted by Kevin Eckelkamp on July 12, 2000 at 16:26:38:
Well, no one else wants to tackle this, so here goes: (it's mucheasier to demonstrate than to explain in writing...)
You know how it's hard to get at the little tubes and slides in the middle of the horn, and around the valves too? What you do is take the end of an old T-shirt and stick it between two of the slides, and pull it back and forth so it wipes the area between them nice and clean. You have to get around the braces, and the valves, at lots of different angles, but these spots (although most likely heavily tarnished) will clean up nicely because, unlike the "contact points" (where your hands touch the horn when playing)the finish should be good as new on these hard-to-reach spots. It is just covered with a protective coating of oil, grease, and dust.
OK, I hope that makes some sense.
Oh yeah, even though it has been played recently, it is still a good idea to clean out the inside of the horn before you play it. Who knows, the last guy may have had the flu, and those germs are still waiting in there for you!
Mike