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Thread: Water Catchers

  1. #21
    The Adams design has a little spring in it like the one you posted a photo of, so it's harder to put a strip of absorbent material in there.
    Yes, the lack of room with that central spring getting in the way was the main reason I first tried it with no absorbent material. And based on what most here seem to have reported, that is probably fine if you empty it after each session.

    Here is an update since my puddle incident last Sunday. Since then, I have left the gutter off completely. On Monday and Wednesday I practiced at home for ~40 min and Tuesday I went to rehearsal for 1.5 hours. During each of those times I paid particular attention to the amount of drips, etc that showed up on the interior tubing and bottom bow. In each case while playing I noticed zero droppings. However, when I oiled the valves each night before putting the horn away in my case, when I would vigorously work the valves to spread the oil into the casings, I then would get ~4-5 drops....Which I promptly removed by wiping off the horn.

  2. #22
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Central North Carolina
    Posts
    2,369
    For my 1924 Eb Buescher, I have to use something else. It really drains condensation through the bottom valve vents, but unfortunately doesn't have the nice slotted nubs to hold a real gutter. What I've done in that case is to take a fairly large diameter (1" or so?) length (4"?) of vinyl tubing and split it lengthwise. Then I cut a similar length of SOFT sponge about 3/4" wide and use the vinyl tubing to hold that up against the valve bottoms (the edges of the tubing kind of "hook over" the bottom valve caps. Not as slick looking as a real gutter, and a bit messier to attach and remove, but it works.
    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)

  3. #23
    I played Bessons for years and suffered the splotches on uniforms, suits, other clothing. In the mid-Eighties I thought I'd just hide the eternal drippings and the resulting stains on satin silver, bright silverplate, or just plain lacquer but putting a British-style leather bib on the horn. Looked cool, but the horn was positively trashed underneath with all the water/oil gunk. It wasn't until I bought a 967 in the mid-Nineties when I encountered my first grime gutter. It was a game-changer and I wouldn't consider having a horn today without one, even my 1941 Imperial which doesn't have the nipples on the bottom valve caps. A Bach slip-on rubberized gutter performs that task, and with that one, I find it necessary to dump the grime gutter fairly often while playing, and then I leave it off the horn after practicing. Otherwise, the slime buildup is extensive and it happens fast.

    I find my E2 Adams doesn't drip nearly as much through the valves, but I think that's because the horn is still functionally new. I'm playing more tuba than euph at present, and that is the reason. But the Adams does collect much more water in the main tuning slide than any of my previous horns. And the 2nd valve collects a lot of water too.

    I had fashioned a grime gutter out of a piece of PVC tubing and used a dremel tool to fine-tune the holes in which the nipples fit and stoppered off the ends with rubber stoppers. That worked far better for me than Dave's method of a flexible rubber tube, which I never could get straight. It was always slightly curved and kept popping off the nipples. Somewhere on this site I have a photo of what I came up with - and I think that was for the Sterling Virtuoso I had at the time.
    U.S. Army, Retired (built mid-1950s)
    Adams E2 Euph (built 2017)
    Boosey & Co. Imperial Euph (built 1941)
    Edwards B454 Bass Trombone (built 2012)
    Boosey & Hawkes Imperial Eb tuba (built 1958)
    Kanstul 33-T lBBb tuba (built 2010)

  4. I've actually gone a bit retro here. I find the gutters great for catching the drips, but if I lay the instrument down during a longer rehearsal/practice/concert I get a gutter-full on my crotch, which is not great. I realise I should empty it more. For this reason I've gone back to a duster/rag/beer towel (remember them?) trapped between the valve block and the 4th valve.

  5. So we aretold about the difference small pieces of metal known as lefreQue plates canmake to performance so I have had a small experiment comparing my sound withand without water catcher and find I have a better sound without the catcher(Prestige 2052) has anyone else done this comparison?


  6. #26
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    San Diego, California
    Posts
    460
    I guess I'll weigh-in, a little late in the conversation. I like the design of the water catcher on my 5050 but I noticed the catcher would not lock into the tips on the bottom caps firmly until I added small rubber grommets (sic). I still have to make sure its locked in periodically as it has been known to come off (in the middle of performance) and noisily fall onto the floor. Other than that its a flawless design.
    Euphs:
    Miraphone 5050 Ambassador
    Wessex Travel (Tornister) Euphonium 'Maly' ER154
    Yamaha 201 Baritone
    Mp: Wick SM4 Ultra X
    Groups:
    The San Diego Concert Band

  7. #27
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Quote Originally Posted by graeme View Post
    So we are told about the difference small pieces of metal known as LefreQue plates can make to performance so I have had a small experiment comparing my sound with and without water catcher and find I have a better sound without the catcher (Prestige 2052) has anyone else done this comparison?
    Not me. That seems counter to what I would expect since a number of folks add heavy bottom valve caps to their valves to help with sound or presence.

    Ref the M5050 water catcher. I too added little g̶r̶o̶m̶m̶e̶t̶s̶ - or rather O-rings - to the bottom valve caps to keep the trough from falling off during a performance. The first time it fell off on me was in church during Christmas Eve service. I was part of a brass quintet and it fell and clanked on the bottom tubing and bow. It wasn't in time with the music either.

    Here's a picture that might help illustrate:

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by RickF; 01-05-2019 at 12:55 PM.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  8. #28
    Do any of you get rusty water in your gutter? I recently purchased one and like it overall, but the rivet that holds in the spring is rusting and turns the collected water/oil orange.

  9. Quote Originally Posted by RickF View Post
    Not me. That seems counter to what I would expect since a number of folks add heavy bottom valve caps to their valves to help with sound or presence.

    Ref the M5050 water catcher. I too added little grommets to the bottom valve caps to keep the trough from falling off during a performance. The first time it fell off on me was in church during Christmas Eve service. I was part of a brass quintet and it fell and clanked on the bottom tubing and bow. It wasn't in time with the music either.
    Thanks Rick. I am using heavy bottom caps already which I agree help with sound I was thinking that maybe the catcher provides some resistance to the air escaping from the valves when depressed I was surprised I found a difference to the sound.

  10. #30
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Edited my post above about 'adding grommets' to bottom valve caps. They're actually 'O-rings' that just slip over the nipple on the bottom valve caps.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

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