So there are a few solutions:

1) Check your equipment. My horns love the Laskey 775F (only because its my usual mouthpiece and the one I do my play testing on.) This means that deeper, more funnel shaped mouthpieces play the best on my leadpipe. If you play a smaller one, its possible the horn might feel “tight”. **Try to avoid a European shanked mouthpiece with my horns!** They will not hit the right depth to meet the venturi.

or even better…

2) Send me a copy of your mouthpiece. All problems caused by a mismatch can be solved if I use your setup to balance the horn. It might be an extra 50 bucks to send me a mouthpiece, but it will pay off in the long run. This however will make your horn slightly different, something you will want to mention should you (heaven forbid) ever want or need to sell the horn.

Since I am a horn specialist, I only 80% understand the intricacies of mouthpiece design. It is something that I am continuing to learn to optimize the mouthpiece to mouthpipe connection. For some good articles about mouthpieces try one by John Ericson and one by Tom Greer (a mouthpiece designer/ builder).

Windex. Or another glass cleaner, I suppose it wouldn’t have to be Windex.

Keep a small bottle, like trombone players have to mist their slide, in the case and use it to wipe the horn down at the end of the day. Spray directly on the horn or on a rag and wipe the most touched parts of the horn.

Hopefully, you can prolong the life of the lacquer and enjoy a streak-free shine!