Posted by Mike R on November 09, 1999 at 17:44:29:
In Reply to: Give it a bath? posted by Shimshon on November 09, 1999 at 07:00:46:
As is sort of indicated below, it refers to "giving your tuba a bath". The goal, regardless of what type of tub you use (here in North America we sort of assume a western style 5 or 6 foot bath tub), or where you hide the white towels, is to remove the valves and slides, wash all of the old grease, oil, and other sludge off them with soapy water (I usually try to avoid getting the corks, felts, or bits of velvet soaked), and then get soapy water washed through as much of the body of the horn as possible to remove any sludge, old food bits, last weeks beer, and so on...(everybody has a horror story about what has come out of their horn - I personally liked the one about the champagne bottle in the Helicon...) There are lots of options for cleaning out various branches such as nylon bristle bottle brushes, trombone snakes, and such - just be careful not to scratch or bend anything.
Allow all the parts to "air dry" thoroughly, grease, oil and re-assemble (the tuba).
Congratulations, you've just "given it a bath". Repeat yearly, or sooner if desired.
Mike R