TromboneChat

Hi all,

just a quick question on the Cronkhite style cases with the "internal" slide compartments.

These slide compartments (at least on my two bags) have one rigid side (some kind of board or wood?) and one soft side.
Do you put the rigid side towards the bell section or to the outside?
I am not sure what's recommended/better...

The soft side faces the bell, the hard side faces out. And you didn't ask, but the bell goes in with the rotor facing up. I suppose a with a straight horn it wouldn't matter much.

Thanks! Totally makes sense.

I do the same thing with the bags with the outside pocket ("O" style?). The slide goes in a sleeve with one rigid side and one flexible side. The rigid side of the sleeve goes to the outside of the bag. I do this with my Tuxedo bag as well.

Mamaposaune wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 9:20 am The soft side faces the bell, the hard side faces out. And you didn't ask, but the bell goes in with the rotor facing up. I suppose a with a straight horn it wouldn't matter much.

To add to this….
The water key side of the slide should face the the bell. Why? Because water drains out of the mouthpiece side. If you put the mouthpiece side towards the bell, you risk having corrosion around the bell rim…..especially if you have an unsoldered rim.

I'm laughing at my own entry to this thread! I played my 1926 Conn 8H at lessons last night and just took it out today. I store/carry it in a ProTec Max case. The design of this darn case does NOT give me the option put the water key end of the slide towards the bell. The interior shape forces me to place the mouthpiece receiver end towards the bell. What did I see when I opened up the case? A whole bunch of moisture on the bell end.....I hate that! ....and I religiously empty all the moisture out before placing the horn in the case. I must find a better case for this very special horn!

some water on the bell>red rot in the crook from water sitting in it. I always have the receiver end towards the bell.

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:51 pm I'm laughing at my own entry to this thread! I played my 1926 Conn 8H at lessons last night and just took it out today. I store/carry it in a ProTec Max case. The design of this darn case does NOT give me the option put the water key end of the slide towards the bell. The interior shape forces me to place the mouthpiece receiver end towards the bell. What did I see when I opened up the case? A whole bunch of moisture on the bell end.....I hate that! ....and I religiously empty all the moisture out before placing the horn in the case. I must find a better case for this very special horn!

Another argument for swabbing your (inner and outer) slides dry whenever possible before encasing your trombone - or at least as soon as you return home. (An HW Products Brass-Saver is very compact, and can be easily stored in your trombone case. Dry the brush with a small terry towel between swabs.)

Burgerbob wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 5:25 pm some water on the bell>red rot in the crook from water sitting in it. I always have the receiver end towards the bell.

A valid point indeed and probably worth discussing in another thread. Where moisture settles and where it leaks onto the instrument can impact the well-being of the instrument's interior and its finish. The old French-style Bach Strad cases come to mind immediately.....those cases had the mouthpiece end facing the bell. While they were rather slim and took up a small amount of cubic space, they created an entire generation of trombones that had crusty bells due to the proximity of those parts. Yet, I have also seen trombones come into my shop that have had red rot in the slide crook and they appear to have been stored continuously with that part of the slide facing down.

Possibly, there is no "perfect case" and the only way to prevent the trombone from damaging itself is exactly as Posaunus stated....always swabbing inner and outer slides before placing it in the case.

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:51 pm I'm laughing at my own entry to this thread! I played my 1926 Conn 8H at lessons last night and just took it out today. I store/carry it in a ProTec Max case. The design of this darn case does NOT give me the option put the water key end of the slide towards the bell. The interior shape forces me to place the mouthpiece receiver end towards the bell. What did I see when I opened up the case? A whole bunch of moisture on the bell end.....I hate that! ....and I religiously empty all the moisture out before placing the horn in the case. I must find a better case for this very special horn!

An easy fix for this is to take a small block of wood, cover it with matching or contrasting fabric, and attach it to the case so the tenon or mouthpiece receiver (whichever is the slobbering offender) rests against it.

For many years, I've been putting a wash rag or similar size cloth in the case positioned so it catches any moisture that comes out the slide openings or the slide receiver on the bell section. This has worked well for me. I empty the slide as much as possible and wipe down all the contact points as I put the horn in th case, then position the towel to catch whatever might remain.

Mamaposaune wrote: ↑Fri Mar 04, 2022 8:21 pm

Crazy4Tbone86 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 4:51 pm I'm laughing at my own entry to this thread! I played my 1926 Conn 8H at lessons last night and just took it out today. I store/carry it in a ProTec Max case. The design of this darn case does NOT give me the option put the water key end of the slide towards the bell. The interior shape forces me to place the mouthpiece receiver end towards the bell. What did I see when I opened up the case? A whole bunch of moisture on the bell end.....I hate that! ....and I religiously empty all the moisture out before placing the horn in the case. I must find a better case for this very special horn!

An easy fix for this is to take a small block of wood, cover it with matching or contrasting fabric, and attach it to the case so the tenon or mouthpiece receiver (whichever is the slobbering offender) rests against it.

Interesting idea. For clarification…..would the small block of wood be about 1 inch across and be drilled out slightly to fit snugly over the receiver and/or bell tenon?

Hope this picture explains the block of wood. I actually put this in to help hold the slide in place, and realized as I took this pic that I need to put a similar one on the mouthpiece side to keep the moisture off the bell. (This 72H has been stored clean and dry for awhile, and is in a Protec tenor case that I modified for the longer slide)

Mamaposaune wrote: ↑Sun Mar 06, 2022 12:06 pm (This 72H has been stored clean and dry for awhile, and is in a Protec tenor case that I modified for the longer slide)

Mamaposaune is the queen of trombone case modifications!