I am just not really into the equipment side of being a trumpeter--I still play the Bach Bb that James Darling picked out for me at Giardinelli’s in 1980--rather it is the music that I find attractive. Imagine my surprise when I find myself excited about valve oil!

A very thin oil such as Al Cass just doesn’t work with the older, somewhat worn valves that I play. I have tried others such as Hetmann, Ultra Pure, Selmer, and Yamaha, with some success, but I was simply never completely satisfied. That all changed when Jeff Snyder from the Monette shop suggested that I try Tech-Oil. Jeff made some claims about the oil and I said to myself, “Yeah, whatever, how good can oil be?” Well, Tech-Oil is all that Jeff claimed and more! My valves have, perhaps, been faster, but never this smooth or reliable. Honestly, I oil my valves maybe once a month and Tech-Oil works like a dream on all of my horns: old or new, piston or rotary.

Using Tech-Oil is a simple, three step process:

1 Clean your valves--perhaps simply wipe them off with a leather chamois.
2 Oil your valves.
3 Forget about them for about a month.

Tech Oil was created by David Braun. According to David’s website, the feature I find so compelling is lubricity, “Tech-Oil forms a film between the piston and the valve casing. The highly cohesive film resists sideways forces that otherwise cause metal contact and "sticking". Customers have noticed that Tech-Oil often solves sticky valve problems and saves trips to the repair shop.” The key to valve oil endurance is volatility, “This measures the tendency of liquids to evaporate. Many valve oils dry out too fast, requiring frequent application. Tech-Oil stays in the valves by having a low rate of evaporation, allowing use even in hot weather.”

Dave is a somewhat curmudgeonly old coot who has retired and passed the distribution of Tech-Oil on to Steve France at themusic-store.com. Dave charged $12.00/bottle as does Steve, however, Steve offers serious discounts for bulk purchases, hence my lifetime supply pictured above.

Tags: Tech-Oil