it is my guess the typically conservative and largely uninformed Canadians never looked past the stigma on the brand name on the horn; it is a Jupiter, yes, which means it is a Japan/Taiwan collaboration by the same company who also bring you those $200-$600 horns, but a little research shows that Taiwan is where Japan was in the 90′s, because it is now mainland China who are dominating the low-end manufacturing and like Japan back then, Taiwan realized they had to become credible to survive; the Jupiter Artist XO (2069) was among the first of the new pro-series hand-hammered horns, and while I’m no expert, I am perfectly happy with it, apart from the stickiness (which seems to be improving with use) I’d say it compares well with Yamaha’s that cost nearly $1000 more, the action is excellent as is the intonation, and only time will tell if I spent my money foolishly.

but yes, the horn was factory-original, yet the serial number 000xxx apparently says it is a 1991 edition.

My theory for the new-horn problem is that it may have a combination of dust and previous customer saliva as a guck base; I just purchased a horn that the serial number tells me had spent nearly a decade waiting for a buyer (I hope that’s not a really bad omen) and I can imagine all sorts of people might have tried the horn in that amount of time.

I used to use a soft absorbent cloth that I pulled through the pressed-down keypad like the advice above for using a dollar, but I was later told that I ran the risk of shifting the pad position and shouldn’t do that, even very lightly.

I’m tempted to try the same dilute vinegar solution I use to dissolve the guck that builds on the inside of the curves and in the mouthpiece. I figure it can’t hurt and usually clears out the mouthpiece buildup pretty fast. Any reason I shouldn’t soak a cloth in vinegar & water and let that sit against the pad for a minute or two?