Proper maintenance of any brass instrument is important if you expect it to perform at its best. A Taylor Trumpet is no different. Particular attention should be paid to keeping the mouthpipe and mouthpiece cleaned out. This will really help to keep your horn sounding its best, and maintain its reliability.

Stainless steel valve sleeves are very hard wearing, but they still need lubricating. If the horn has not been used for a while, the valves really must be oiled before use. The plus point to stainless steel valves is that they need less 'mid-gig' oiling. Once warmed up, natural spit is usually enough. Use them dry at your peril, as this can cause unwanted casing wear. We would recommend any good quality piston valve oil, but please avoid valve oils that have a high petrol content, as these tend to evaporate rather quickly.

The natural finish on most Taylor Trumpets is actually very easy to look after, as long as you follow a few basic guidelines. The golden rule here is, (as for lacquer or silver plate), to try not to put the horn away wet. Sweat is the enemy of any finish on a brass instrument. On a natural finish, it leaves ugly black marks or green crystalline deposits. It only takes a minute to wipe any sweat away with an absorbent cloth, before putting the horn away.

Treat your horn to a bath occasionally. Strip it down, and fill the tub or large sink with hot water and washing up liquid. Place the horn and all the parts in the hot soapy water. Clean the instrument using some maintenance brushes, which you can get from any good brass store. Give it a good scrub, especially inside the tubing. To restore the lustre of the finish, give it a rub down with a non-abrasive pan cleaner (scotchbrite or similar). When you have finished, rinse it off under cool running water, and dry it off. Leave it for an hour or so to dry out completely. Finally, re-grease the slides, re-oil the valves, and put the horn back together again.

Alternatively, you could take your horn to your local, friendly, competent repair shop and get them to do it for you. This could give you the time to do some shopping, or to slip down to the bar for a beer. You could even get on the phone to arrange some more gigs. That way more people could hear how good you sound on your Taylor Trumpet!

If most of this sounds like common sense, it is! A Taylor instrument needs no more attention to cleaning than any other trumpet or flugelhorn. If you follow this advice, you will be able to enjoy playing and owning your horn to the full, for many years.

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