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Thread: Water stuck in Besson 956 Sovereign 4 Valve Baritone

  1. #11
    I never had a problem with slides on the 2056 but the bottom valve caps are really tough!!
    --
    Barry

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    338
    Quote Originally Posted by daruby View Post
    I have played the 955 3-valve (and a number of equivalents), the 956 4-valve (actually a York 3056 built using the same tooling), and the Besson 2056 4-valve. ALL Bb baritone's have the "can't get the water out" problem. The problem is the 2nd loop AFTER the tuning slide before the bottom bow. There is no spit valve water accumulates and gurgles in this loop after the tuning slide.

    My procedure on most baritones is:


    1. Empty 1st valve, 2nd valve, 3rd valve, and 4th valve slides (if it has one) BEFORE the tuning slide. I am "slide puller" instead of a "spit valve user" so my slides will really empty.
    2. Pull tuning slide, empty it and set aside for a second.
    3. Slowly spin the instrument in the direction that has the water coming out of the open tuning slide (rather than the bell). This works well and doesn't leave corrosion and ugly drip marks on the inside of the bell. Since you emptied all of the other slides, it shouldn't put crud back into your valves.
    4. Conversely spin the horn in the other direction to get the water out the bell. You can do this with the tuning slide in, but then you need to spin twice so that you make sure that any residual water in the tuning slide loop goes out the bell.


    The baritone is the only instrument in the brass band that HAS to do this. The problem is that the extra loop is required to get 9 ft. of primary tubing in about the same space as the 6.75 ft of primary tubing that occupies an Eb tenor horn.

    BTW, the weird double loop adapter on the 4th valve slide of the 956 rarely has a problem with water accumulation. When I dump the 4trh valve slide, I just pull out the slide itself and leave the tight double loop in place.

    Doug
    Which begs the question... If it's such a widespread and well-known issue, why aren't water keys on that penultimate bottom bow a standard thing these days?

  3. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by TheJH View Post
    Which begs the question... If it's such a widespread and well-known issue, why aren't water keys on that penultimate bottom bow a standard thing these days?
    You don't get a super huge amount of water in there and because of the larger bore at that part of the instrument you have to get a lot of accumulation before it becomes a gurgle. For me, this is usually a once at the end of rehearsal or practice session ritual. In some situations, perhaps temperature or something, it needs to be done slightly more often.

    Water keys aren't "free" -- There is an acoustical disadvantage to adding them, even something like an amado-style key. A JoyKey might be a good idea at that point, but then you need to be constantly replacing the wicks.
    --
    Barry

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