Might a heavier valve oil aid the leakage problem a bit? It'll give you more time to save your pennies!
Might a heavier valve oil aid the leakage problem a bit? It'll give you more time to save your pennies!
Any recommendations on a brand? And or a thickness rating/number for that said brand? I currently use blue juice.
Blue juice is good stuff but very thin. I use Hetman #3 for my older horns. It is one of the thicker oils.
Adams E3 0.60 Sterling bell - Prototype top sprung valves
Concord Band
Winchendon Winds
Townsend Military Band
Great thanks, I'll try and get a hold of some and let you know how it goes!
I have been using Yamaha Vintage Synthetic Valve oil on my 1924 tuba. It's made specifically for older instruments with worn valves. I really like the Yamaha synthetic stuff and use the Light version on my new EEb horn.
Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)
The replating of the horn sounds like the bulk of the cost. Some techs can do quite a lot of solder work without leaving much in the way of marks. Perhaps an option would be to go for a replating and refitting of the valves, and leaving the horn's original finish? I imagine it wouldn't be noticeable to the audience.
Christopher Chen
bolded are for sale
B&H 967 - Globe Stamp
B&H 960 (3 valve comp euph) - Globe Stamp
Salvation Army Triumphonic Eb Alto, silver plated
On the lookout for:
Silver plated:
pre '93, post '06 Sovereign Alto/Tenor Horn
pre '93, post '06 Sovereign Baritone (3 valve)
York/Sterling/LMI variants accepted
You would be right in your assumption, the plating was estimated around $1500. The technician said that in order to rehone the valves and or casing the entire valve assembly needed to com off because the bell would be in the way, and recommending the replating afterwards because there were already previously spots on the horn that had been taken apart and re-soldered and these spots were not touched up, so with the existing spots and the added brace/attachments points he highly recommended it being replated. It may or may not be noticeable to an audience but i worry more about the metal being exposed especially considering it is an older horn already dealing with some corrosion issues inside and out.
I just order some Hetmans 3 as none of the local music stores carry it ,but as soon as I get it in, earliest Friday, I will be sure to let you know my results.
My order finally came in! After a few days of playing I have not noticed a major difference in the horns performance. It seems to have helped with slotting and overall accuracy, but no change in stuffiness.
This could be a change partially because I am working on flow studies, but I am also noticing a positive change in connection and volume of sound that seems to flow out of the bell.
So overall, only improvements were made with this change. Thanks all for your suggestions and comments, much appreciated!
Last edited by Jrpetty24; 01-03-2014 at 02:26 PM.