Pbone slide issues

[stevenvortigern]

Greetings,
I recently bought a couple alto Pbones for some preschool age kids I'm teaching. I've had them a little longer than a month and noticed the slides getting worse. It appears the metal part at the end of the inner slide is cracking as if if it is ready to peel off. I was surprised to see this because I know players who have owned and used Pbones for a while. Is this a common issue with these horns?

20251202_104315 (1).jpg

[Kbiggs]

I own a pBone and mine hasn’t done that. I know several people who have them and they’ve never mentioned this. It looks like a defect—something about the brass tube caused it to split. Is it under warranty?

[NathanSobieralski]

Thats pretty crazy. If it were mine id measure the OD of the tube and look for a replacement at a hobby shop or online, cut to length and epoxy.

[timothy42b]

I just checked my alto pBone. I've had it for years and it hasn't shown that. The brass does tarnish easily and drags. Others have suggested car wax on the stockings and I think that's a good idea, especially if you do it before they start getting cruddy.

What broke on mine is the connection between slide and bell. That joint has several elements, each of which split and was repaired with epoxy, until eventually I had to just epoxy the two pieces together permanently. And weirdly the slide works better upside down, but then you have to dump condensation by taking the slide off.

I wish it had lasted longer. When new it played pretty well.

[stevenvortigern]

The Pbones only have a 30 day warranty, but luckily, Musician's Friend, where I bought them, has a 45 day return policy, which I was within a few days of. I currently have two replacements from them that I will be watching closely over the next month.

For the players that have used Pbones successfully for a long time, what are your slide care tips?