Hello fellow trumpeteers!!
I have many things I'd like to discuss:

Firstly, I have recently just purchased a professional model Schilke B1- and love it. With the excitement of the new instrument, I want to take as much care of it as possible, and have already bought a leather hand grip, and silver polishing cloth. I hear that vaseline is not good to use...is this true? Is there a proper reason apart from just being frugal?

Pinky hook. Do you place your pinky in the hook or on top of it? And if on top, why? Is it supposed to make you play with more pressure? Wouldn't you push with your left hand anyway?

Mouthpieces-I'm also looking at getting a schilke mouthpiece to match my trumpet. At the moment I play on a Bach 3C which I think is quite nice, and works for everything, but I'd like to get at least another two which specialise-one for lead playing, and another for classical. I was thinking of a shallow cup for the lead and maybe something like a heavy mp or one of those v-shaped ones for a darker sound. What do you think? And also, have you heard of the new GR mouthpieces? What are your opinions on them?

I love trumpet. lol.

hope to hear from you all very soon
MissTrumpeter

Well congratulations on your new horn! It's always exciting when you first get some new equipment. With regards to the vaseline, you should really stick with slide grease for a number or reasons. Vaseline is bad for you horn, and if you use it on a regular basis, you slides will begin to stick and become sloshy...i've seen it happen. About the pinky hook...many teachers and professional players will tell you to not put your pinky in it because they do not want you applying pressure on your chops. I personally find it more comfortable and convienent, but you must be carefull not to use it as an octave key or you might hurt yourself.
About mouthpeices. You don't necessarily need a Schilke mouthpiece just because you have a Schilke horn...it's not going to sound better because of the match, but if you a just brand-loyal..then I understand. The Bach 3C is a good all around mouthpeice and I played on it for many years. If you are looking to have two mouthpeices (one for lead and one for everything else) I would reccomend giving it a try. I play on two different peices for almost the same reasons, and I find it very convenient and helpful to my chops. I think you just need to make sure that the two moutpeices have similarities along with differences. For instance, you might want to keep the rim size the same between the two, just so that you feel the same when playing on both of them. It's just that the main problem with switching from moutpiece to mouthpeice is that your chops get weak because of a lack of consistantcy...hence the reason you want to have some comminalities in your two mouthpeices. And sorry I don't know anything about GR mouthpeices, but I think you get my thoughts on everything else. Good luck and see ya around.

Thanks for the info, I don't think I'll bother getting a schilke mouthpiece just for the sake of matching.

Are leather hand grips supposed to be cleaned? Because I know you can't wash leather..
What about gig bags? Can they be washed?

Crunchhing valves-only slightly..it's the sort of scraping when it hasnt been tightened in properlyish..but in this case, they seem to permanently be like that. They move fine-very smooth, but it's that noise..what is it?

Silver polish cloth-I think somebody mentioned the blacker the better......

Mutes-I'm thinking of upgrading my mutes-any suggestions? Do the copper bottoms sound any better?

Silent system-how does this new yamaha silent thing work? Apparently you plug headphones in and a mute type thing goes into your trumpet so not even the person standing next to you can hear..pretty amazing. Anybody got one of these things?

Ciao

Yea for the polishing cloths, the color doesnt really mean anything. When the material starts wearing out, thats when you should look into another one. Also, I have the silent brass system, and the one I have has a device that you plug both headphones into and the mute into. It helps when you need to practice late but I personally hate the sound and would never use it as an alternative when I don't have to. Hope this helps.

I think then, that I'll save my pennies and stop practising at odd hours. lol.

ta

Do not use vasaline, it eats the brass like termites eat wood.

I've never heard of anyone washing their leather hand grip, or their case. I suggest vacuuming your case out once a month or so. You have to use the little attachments to the tube of the vacuum to get all the little pieces of dirt and rocks that accumulate from use.

The crunching in your valves could be a spring that isn’t in the right place or is just old. You could try to take out the spring and put it back into place and see if that does anything.

The pinky hook seems to be more personal preference. I’ve seen pros do both, its whatever is more comfortable for you.

Your mouthpiece is good, I don’t know what kind of lead playing your talking about (jazz, classical, or just school band) but you can look into specialty mouthpieces like a Bobby Shrew for jazz lead, or Frank Holton for higher range. That info is all over the internet and relatively easy to find.

Mutes, depends on what sound you want to make. There are a billion different mutes for a billion different sounds. Some conductors prefer tin mutes, some prefer brass bottom, once again its personal preference and what style you play. All of them do sound different though.

I’ve never tried the silent system, but I’ve never need it. A polish cloth is a polish cloth, as long as you make sure it’s made for silver.

Is petroleum jelly bad for your horn? I use it on my slides

A 3C isn't bad for classical playing. It is a good all around piece. I use mine for basically everything except jazz band. I have a shilke 10a4a for jazz band. It has the same rim diameter as the 3c so it is comfortable and it is great for playing lead. It would also go with your trumpet, but that doesn't really matter. I use the shilke slide grease too. It is my all time favorite. It works like a charm. I just add a little bit of oil with it on my 1st and 3rd slides and they move amazing! I do not have a shilke trumpet and don't know a whole lot about them, but I know that Shilke makes good mouthpieces and slide grease. Hope this helps