How to sharpen a particular valve on a euphonium

[ChrisH]

So, first off, the horn I'm working with is a W. Nirschl I-800. This particular example has been a great intermediate horn, and while I do plan to upgrade to a Besson once I'm off to college, this horn is nearly flawless. Nearly.

The second valve has always been flat. Even when I first began playing, and my tuning was pretty horrid, that valve was always about 5-10 cents lower than the rest of the instrument. I've trained myself to lip it up, and it hasn't really been an issue.

Lately, however, I've been working a lot on breath support with my college-of-choice professor. It's improved my sound a lot, and made my playing much, much smoother, and tuning is generally better across the horn. But, my second valve has gotten worse. It's now closer to a quarter-tone flat, and it's beginning to be a bit much to lip into tune. An A at the top of the bass clef now sounds strained and thin, just due to how much lipping I'm having to do.

I was thinking that it could be an air leak around the valve, but I'm not sure if that'd cause tuning issues like this. The sound itself is fine. It's just flat. What can I do for the next year or two to correct the tuning on that valve?

The slide is pushed all the way in, before anyone asks

[RickF]

Sometimes a tech can shorten the 2nd slide a bit. There’s not a lot of slide to work with though. Some owners of the older Sterling’s (not Virtuoso) have had this done to help with 2nd valve fingering being flat.

[ghmerrill]

Did you check for an air leak? Did you check your valve alignment?

[davewerden]

In addition to valve alignment and air leaks, you should make sure the entire interior of the horn is clean.

[ChrisH]

Thanks for the answers, and sorry for not getting back to this thread! I've been busy.

As it turns out, there was a minor air leak in my second valve. I got that patched, got the horn cleaned, and the problem went away for the most part. It's still a bit flat, but I think that could just be a product of my playing and maybe the horn's design.