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Hidden Dangers: Your Horn and The Occult

PUBLISHED: July 30, 2011, Dave Weiner

It happened again, recently. A customer brought in a horn for work, which was simple enough. But before I let him leave the shop I took off the hand guard to show him what was underneath – a habit I have developed through hard experience. There was the usual “green stuff” that one finds under [...]

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Repairs and Modifications

So, you’ve decided to cut your bell. Now what?

PUBLISHED: July 16, 2011, Dave Weiner

You’ve asked dozens of people IF you should cut your bell, gotten all that contradictory advice, and finally decided to go for it.   Now what? Decide who should do it You probably shouldn’t cut your own bell, so you’ll have to find someone to do it.  How do you know who is competent to do [...]

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Repairs and Modifications

A Photo-Review of Abalone Valve Caps from Ion Balu

PUBLISHED: July 15, 2011, Bruce Hembd
CapCloseUp2345

Once a year or so I like to send off a horn to different technicians for cleaning or custom work, coordinating this with taking a break from the horn. This year, I wanted to do something about my boring valve caps. It is something that I have been thinking about for a long while and [...]

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Repairs and Modifications

How to Prepare an Instrument for Shipping

PUBLISHED: June 18, 2011, Dave Weiner

Using the following method I have had a near-100% success rate for shipping horns safely. It is an expensive method, both in terms of time and money, but worth it. While shipping a horn can be done cheaply, it will not be very safe or secure.  If you take your horn to a …

Long-term Storage for a Brass Instrument

PUBLISHED: June 11, 2011, Dave Weiner

It’s the summer and you might be putting your horn away for a few months. Or, perhaps you have more than one horn and you want to “mothball” the horns you’re not using. So, what’s the best way to store your horn so it will come out of the closet, ready for use? The proper [...]

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Repairs and Modifications

What is the true cost of being cheap?

PUBLISHED: June 5, 2011, Dave Weiner

A quick story with a moral:  Years ago I had a customer who was using Spray ‘N Wash® as a rotor lubricant.  He was using it on the strength of his belief that a certain very well-known horn player was using it and recommending it.  I asked him how it was working, and he told [...]

What is “Red Rot”?

PUBLISHED: May 28, 2011, Dave Weiner

“Red Rot” is commonly used to refer to any reddish patch of corrosion on a copper-based alloy, such as brass. However, this loose usage covers two distinct but related conditions, surface corrosion and deterioration of the alloy due to de-zincification. Red rot is found in brasses, which are alloys of copper and other non-ferrous metals, [...]

John Ericson & Bruce Hembd
on the French horn, brass related topics, and the field of classical music.