Posted by Bryan on November 08, 1999 at 19:39:03:
Someone earlier had posted that they were having sticky vavles on their Hirsbrunner HB-21. Sean Chisham responded and suggested that maybe they had gook in their horn and he should give it a bath and use a snake, etc. Even though I'm not currently having any valve problems on my HB-21, I was inspired and decided that maybe it was time for a good cleaning anyway. I don't think I had done it for a couple of years (I know...nice way to treat a $13K investment.) I spent the better part of two hours cleaning my horn including bath in mild detergent, snaking all the reachable orifices, removing green gook from the pistons, etc. I even went "all out" and polished the exterior with Hagerty's spray polish! Anyway, I just have to say that when I was all done, I blew my first notes into it and I swear I thought it was a different horn! It was unbelievable how much more free-blowing it was - and no, dear reader, I didn't find a dead mouse or anything in the bottom of the tub - just some small particles of...whatever they are. It gave me renewed confidence that this was a great player/horn match for me.
So, moral of the story:
Go clean your friggin' horn. You will be amazed at the difference. It may just be the extra spark of inspiration you need to practice that excerpt one more time...
Bryan