Supplies, Accessories & Ergonomic Aids
Shop around! Different merchants have different prices! MSRP is not the final word!
re MOUTHPIECES, see:
Also, if you need advice (and most of you do), get advice!
Here is mine:
Lubricants
There are more than few slide lubricants; they all have die-hard fan clubs. Most work fine but results vary with different slides and different players. Some tend to leave a deposit on the outer slide that can harden and be very tough to remove. I’m not going to call any out by name, but I’ve never had any trouble with any of the following:
- Ultra-Pure Trombone Slide Lube – Alessi Formula
- Yamaha Trombone Slide Lubricant
- Berp BioLube
- SuperSlick (the cream/silicone-oil combination – I don’t know about “AlphaSynth”)
- Trombotine
- Hetman Hydro-Slide™
On my Greenhoe, I now use Berp BioLube (a VERY tiny amount) on the stockings and a moderate amount of Yamaha Slide Lube and a little water. In the past, I’ve had good luck with Ultra-Pure – Alessi Formula with a fine misting of VERY dilute Hetman Hydro-Slide – IF you can find it – (4-5 drops of the concentrate in the bottle). Your results may vary – experiment. Again, different slides like different goops – experiment. NOTE: when you experiment, clean the slide between – different goops may not play nice together.
Speaking of water, tap water is laden with minerals (total dissolved solids or “TDS”) – something on the order of 350 parts per million (PPM). These can build up inside outer slide tubes over time and impair slide action. The distilled water in your local supermarket can contain 0-20 PPM, which is much better for your slide. Reverse osmosis purified water runs between 10 and 50 PPM, typically between 20 to 30 PPM, which I find acceptable.
NOTE: Aquafina® brand bottled water is reverse osmosis purified and claims 4 PPM TDS – most bottled water contains much more. If you are on the way to a gig, running late, and out of slide water; many gas stations, grocery chains, and convenience stores stock Aquafina® – I can usually pick up a small bottle at my local Taco Bell drive through window very quickly!
Pro Elite Valve Oil is excellent. They now have three varieties/viscosities of rotor oil.
I have not tried Resilience Oils, but their synthetic lubricants are developing a good reputation.
Monster Oil, Eco Pro oils are excellent, too. They are petroleum-free, sustainably sourced, and non-toxic.
These instructions are pretty good. (Hetman is getting harder to find. Why is unclear. Meinlschmidt makes a line of oils that looks to be similar.)
I have a small hole (just enough for a needle-oiler) drilled in the bearing plate to put just a couple drops inside, preventing the oil from running down into the handslide and gumming up the works. Do NOT drill this yourself, pay a tech!
For the linkages, miniballs, and hinges, I use either Spacefiller Ultimate I Valve Oil or Spacefiller TS tuning slide grease (blue & green bottles) – depending on how much play there in the linkages. These will not stain clothing – they wash right out! (NOTE: I am not sure about Spacefiller TS on “Trombone Handslides.”) For really clanky linkages, Bach 2942 Tuning Slide Grease (the red stuff) works pretty well, but it stains. If none of these quiet and smooth things out, it may be time for new linkages.
Yamaha makes rotor, spindle, and lever oils that are good.
Bach 2942 works for tuning slides; so do Hetman and Ultra-Pure products. I’ve been told lanolin tuning slide grease can work it’s way into the rotors and gum them up – be advised.
Speaking of lanolin, Instrument Clinic 100% Lanolin Cork Grease works great on squeaky mute corks. Some synthetic cork greases work TOO well for mute corks – the mutes fall out.
Cleaning Gear
The Slide-O-Mix Cleaning Set works great for cleaning handslides. It consists of a “cleaning rod, [washable] towelling sheath and a short flexible brush.” The red sheath is for small to medium bore trombones and the blue sheath for large bore tenors up to bass trombones. These may be getting tough to find. A regular cleaning rod with these instructions can work.
I use the blue sheath on a shotgun cleaning rod for bass and contrabass slides – be careful it’s not too tight! I use a “Hoppe’s No. 9 Gun Cleaning Aluminum Rod, Universal Shotgun” (with the blue sheath). It is best (for trombone slides) if it does NOT have a swivel handle – search for “UPC 026285510072.” (Some sites indicate this has a swivel handle, but the comments indicate it does not. The one’s I have purchased do not.)
BE CAREFUL – do NOT jam the end of the cleaning rod into the bottom of the slide! The instructions above will show how to prevent this.
NEVER use a cleaning rod in your inner slide – it can RUIN the leadpipe – use a flexible “SNAKE” – the “flexible brush” attachment with the Slide-O-Mix set is fine.
NOTE: If you clean your slide every time you finish playing and re-lube every time you play again, it will work a lot better. Woodwind players swab ther instruments every time – so can we.
Mutes
I play bass trombone, so I’ll only recommend bass trombone mutes. These are my favorites; some can be hard to find.
The Denis Wick Straight Mute for Bass Trombone is good.
Denis Wick Wooden Straight Mute
The Humes & Berg, Stonelined Cup Bass Trombone Mute is fine, but I do like the Yupon!
Morningstar Mutes makes an excellent Bass Trombone Straight Mute, particularly down low. There are six variations; I have the all plastic model, and it is great! YMMV. Their new Cup Mute should be great, too; I just haven’t tried it yet – the same for the straight mute with the built-in handle. (I am not ordinarily enthused with adjustable-cup cup mutes, but the “semi-soft cup” looks like a great idea – we shall see.)
7” Plunger (A regular plunger served me well but this one is a little bigger than most – good for bass trombone. Carefully cut a hole where the handle screwed in.)
Bucket Mute . . . hmm . . . they can be heavy, awkward and noisy to put on – and LOUD hitting the floor. I had good luck with this in live performance; however, if recording, it can sometimes be heard when added. I LOVE the Mike McClean bucket – sounds great, is quiet to put on, is physically robust, and fits any diameter bell. Peter Gane makes a similar mute that has been well received. Trapani makes one, too; I just haven’t tried it yet.
THIS JUST IN: apparently, this mute can sound like a bucket. My friend Alex Iles has said, “My eyes don’t believe my ears! With a little experimenting with the numerous thicknesses of felt and cork, I have dialed in a warm bucket sound from such a tiny package!
Cases
Gig Bags are riskier than hard cases. Repairs are expensive and sometimes, impossible. That said, if you are confident you will be very, very careful, I like Glenn Cronkhite bags a lot.
I really like Marcus Bonna Cases. They are very protective – but they are not cheap. If your instrument has a detachable bell-flare, their flat cases should fit in most overhead storage on an airplane. Further, I have it on good authority Marcus Bonna flat cases can be checked under the plane like regular luggage! YMMV.
But I would absolutely NOT check a regular case under the plane! Regarding instrument-trunk road-cases (ATA approved and otherwise), these cases can certainly be checked under the plane. The problem is TSA. See Flying With A Trombone. (I’ve heard gate-checking might be OK – with a Bonna case – no promises!)
I you have a fixed-bell bass trombone with a wide valve-set (Thayers or my Greenhoe), you will need a Model F – or the “Soft Case” (I use one) which is fine for around town and is more affordable.
The Protec IPAC Contoured cases are protective and even more affordable – but a little heavier. The IPAC cases come with an “Adjustable Tenon Brace” which is supposed to protect the bell from damage caused by the horn shifting inside the case. This appears to be a good feature – it is certainly a great idea! This TromboneChat indicates the the Protec Max case is good, light, and cheap. I haven’t tried one but I’ve known Matt Varho forever, and he knows what he’s talking about! The Max is available for “straight” tenor, F-attachment, and bass trombones – make sure to order the right one.
Ergonomics
Playing trombone can take its toll on the body over the years. Bass trombone (worse, contrabass) is the heaviest unsupported orchestral instrument. Hand, wrist, elbow, shoulder, back, neck, jaw . . . can all be affected. We musicians are “small-muscle athletes” – in addition to being artists. Repetitive strain injuries can be crippling for musicians.
Alexander Technique and Body Mapping can prevent injury. Read What Every Musician Needs to Know About the Body.
Finally, there are a number of excellent ergonomic aids. I use the Hagmann. Various colleagues have had good luck with all the below. Some are very expensive; some not so much. Do your body a favor, use something!
The Wilk “Trombone Grip” is worth a look! It is well-designed, well-made, and reasonably priced (do the currency conversion).
The ERGObone is more elaborate, but offers full-body relief, not just hand, wrist, and forearm. Some have credited it with saving their careers. Aidan Ritchie has done a good review here.
There are several below. Different folk have different preferences. The Maiocco Design Trombone Hand Grip is good and, at ca. $20 shipped, it is a bargain! Aidan has also done a review of the Maiocco Grip and provided a link to many other hand rests. NOTE: the Maiocco does not fit all horns (Aidan covers some of this) – but they may be able to customize one for you – ask them.
AND . . . if you pinch your hand in the handslide (OUCH!), a SlideKick™ can help.
And the WiseGrip can add some comfort.
Also, VIZI-AIR™ is useful gizmo to visualize airflow. It makes it easy to see that a lot of SLOW air drives low notes and very little FAST air drives high notes.