How to Remove a Stuck Mouthpiece From an Instrument

A trumpet may fall off a chair or table and land on the mouthpiece. It usually is stuck. There's a right way and a wrong way to remove it. A mouthpiece can get stuck in another manner.

Things You'll Need

• Brass Instrument Mouthpieces
• Brass Instruments
• Musical Instrument Repairmen

Instructions

1. Note that, when placing the mouthpiece into a brass instrument, a beginner will often hit or "slap" the end of the mouthpiece with the palm of his hand to produce a loud "pop" sound amplified by the interior acoustics of the instrument.

2. Note that, although the beginner thinks the sound is "cool," this is a sure formula for a stuck mouthpiece.

3. Note, too, that when the beginner tries to unscrew the mouthpiece from the lead pipe, it won't come out; so he or she, a friend or parent will use pliers to try to do a better twist job.

4. Be aware that this will work occasionally, but 70 percent of the time, the much weaker metal of the lead pipe will twist shut like a rubber hose. Metal doesn't snap back to normal as rubber does, and there's a $100 minimum repair or replacement bill at a repair shop.

5. Take the instrument to a professional repairman, who uses a mouthpiece remover that looks and works like a vise, but in reverse.

6. Watch the repairman set the mouthpiece and lead pipe between two "cold steel" washers that fit the outside diameter of the large and small ends of the metal mouthpiece.

7. Observe how the washers fit around the small end so that they butt against the end of the lead-pipe tubing.

8. Watch the vise slowly open rather than close.

9. Caution the student that this mouthpiece remover is too expensive to purchase. It is in the $150 to $200 category.

Tips & Warnings

• Penetrating oil should be applied to the point where the two pieces are locked together.

• This explanation applies to mouthpieces in the "brass" instrument family.

• Woodwind mouthpieces (or parts) can become "stuck" when the student fails to regularly apply cork grease to any connection points. The cork will "dry out" and break apart or fragment when assembling the horn.

• Woodwind instruments need to be dried out regularly using a chamois drop cloth. If this is not done, mold and bacteria will grow inside the tubes and on the mouthpiece.