Customer: “I have a stuck mouthpiece and a stuck main tuning slide. Can you just remove them while I wait?”
Me: “The mouthpiece should go quick, but the tuning slide could be anywhere from two minutes to more than two hours, so how about I call you when it’s done.”
Ended up being way closer to the two hour side of that estimate. I had to unsolder half the tuning slide and leadpipe, then use soldered-in brass plugs (worn out propane torch tips -- perfect fit for cornets/trumpets/flugelhorns), my bench vise and a set of vise-grips to carefully twist it free.
This trumpet also had stuck first, second and third slides; and the insides were hella crunchy and green. Loosening a stuck mouthpiece was the least of this trumpet’s issues.
Stuck slides are kind of a pain in the ass (so preventable with proper care and maintenance), but I kind of enjoy them. That first tiny little *click* sound when the slide finally lets go and you know that even though it might take another hour to wiggle it out, it is going to come out, is such a satisfying thing.