Originally Posted by
Pat
The horn says "Made in Great Britain", but there is a discussion about the origins of the valve set! Daruby, what number is stamped on your valve set? If mine and yours seem sequential, they may have a common source. If not, mine are likely Chinese. Based on estimated build volume, my GUESS is that the horn was built in 2017, but I could be way off. To date I can't complain about valve action or valve noise, which is encouraging.
I am quite certain that the valve sets are not the same since my horn was built in 2009 and Sterling has used at least 3 different valve blocks since then (Cerveny and at least 2 different Chinese manufacturers). I also believe that Paul Riggett has been working with the same Chinese valve set maker now for quite some time (at least 5-6 years) and done a lot of work to insure that the action is improved after delivery from his shop. I was about to say that the numbers stamped on my valveset were "1-2-3" but I looked more closely and the second valve has 43659. I think that the pistons have the same serial number on the tops to insure that the pistons match the cylinders.
I am delighted that you love your horn and want to wish you the very best with your horn. It is good to see a fellow Sterling performer here in the US. By the way, I consider my Virtuoso euphonium and baritone to be my "matched set" and love playing both.
Last edited by daruby; 03-25-2019 at 03:05 PM.
Adams E3 0.60 Sterling bell - Prototype top sprung valves
Concord Band
Winchendon Winds
Townsend Military Band