Heavy bottom caps

[Snorlax]

Well, I've had the thing for a few days, but I'm loath to make any conclusions...

*My practice basement isn't exactly an acoustic paradise. There's only a few feet
from the bell to the drop ceiling when I'm sitting, and the bell is right near the drop
ceiling when I stand.

*Since all my ensembles are on hiatus, I have no way to evaluate the cap as part of
a euphonium section or as a soloist. Additionally, all my ensembles rehearse in a more
reverberant space than my basement.

*Only my ears are listening. I've tried to solve this problem, but listening to me play seems
to produce a strong desire for social distancing.

*I do feel a bit of difference that I would describe as "more focused" or "more direct."
I tried it on all four valves--hard to tell if it produced any difference on 1, 2, or 3.

*I'm not feeling any issues with springs, though other reliable sources report issues.
Mike or Chrissie, could you please give us the email for this fellow Chris?

*I'm not sure, however, whether introducing a rubber spacing washer would reduce/defeat the intent of the cap.

*So I'm gonna keep it for now until I have a chance to play in a group with other euph players in a bigger space.
If it doesn't work for me, I'll sell it to someone for whom it may well work.

*As I mentioned earlier, buying a euphonium from a vendor is like buying a suit off the rack. Both may well need some
alteration to fit the owner better, though some owners are perfectly content with the suit/euph off the rack. I couldn't
leave a suit or a euphonium well enough alone.

[ChristianeSparkle]

I can't draw any conclusions from my experience so far too! But will be having sectionals in the coming weekend, so maybe I will have a chance to get a better feel.

The way to contact Chris would be via their website (there's a phone number there too!)

https://heavybottomcaps.co.uk/contact

or via their Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Heavy-Botto...6059807750596/

He did acknowledge that the extra space probably isn't that suited for Yamaha horns, and he offered to send a spacer to me to rectify it. So I will wait for it to arrive and see if it works better!

[Micah.Dominic.Parsons-OFFLINE]

Hello everyone,

I have been testing and using a Heavy Bottom 4th Valve Cap from Heavy Bottom Caps for a few weeks on my Besson Prestige Euphonium. There is a slight difference in terms of security, I feel that the area around the 4th valve is quite an open space and by adding mass to that area it creates a more stabalised feeling in that area. I should say that I have always used Heavy Valve Caps when I played on a Sterling Virtuoso Euphonium and they made quite a difference.

I made a short video exploring this new Heavy Bottom Valve Cap which you can view on my YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03l6iRaIKFY.

Many Thanks,

Micah Dominic Parsons

[Chris Waters]

Hello everyone, Chris from HBC Heavy Bottom Caps here. The one month without obligation approval is proving very successful and thank you to everyone who is trying one. We'll send everyone a 10mm Spacer this week so these can be tested with the 4th HBC and we're happy to extend the trial period for another month so everyone hopefully gets that chance to do some ensemble playing too. We're here to help so please let us know f there is anything we can do. All the best, Chris

[Snorlax]

Thank you, Chris!
I'll look forward to receiving mine--
I'm in your system under my pseudonym, Jim Williams.

[daruby]

Hi all,

I just thought I'd mention that the normal heavy bottom cap for the Sterling euph is QUITE heavy. I have two of these, one on my Adams and one on my Sterling. In addition, I have three heavy 1-2-3 caps that are about 1/2 the weight of the 4th valve caps. I do NOT use these on the 1-2-3 valves since they deaden the horn too much. I am going to keep 2 of the 3 to use as alternate caps for my 4th valves. If anyone has a Sterling, Adams, or any other Bauerfeind valve equipped horn such as a Hirschbrunner and some variations of Willson, I would be amenable to selling on of my 1/2 weight caps. These caps are gold plated (very good plating) and the weight is solid brass with a small hole drilled through it.

[Chris Waters]

In the post across The Pond Jim! Looking forward to your thoughts and comments. Blighty cheers, Chris

[ChristianeSparkle]

Thank you for the spacer, Chris. Looking forward to it. And good to see you in this forum!

[daruby]

Sterling Heavyweight caps

Hi all,

I just thought I'd mention that the normal heavy bottom cap for the Sterling euph is QUITE heavy. I have two of these, one on my Adams and one on my Sterling. In addition, I have three heavy 1-2-3 caps that are about 1/2 the weight of the 4th valve caps. I do NOT use these on the 1-2-3 valves since they deaden the horn too much. I am going to keep 2 of the 3 to use as alternate caps for my 4th valves. If anyone has a Sterling, Adams, or any other Bauerfeind valve equipped horn such as a Hirschbrunner and some variations of Willson, I would be amenable to selling one of my 1/2 weight caps. These caps are gold plated (very good plating) and the weight is solid brass with a small hole drilled through it.

Interesting that Charley Brighton just posted on his Facebook page about using a bespoke HBC 1/2 weight/size 4th valve bottom cap on his Willson. I am attaching pictures of the Bauerrfeind/Sterling caps from my Virtuoso below. These are also compatible with Adams, Willson and Hirschbrunner. I confirmed Willson compatability with Charley earlier today.

I will do some experimentation with the 1/2 weight caps vs full weight caps on both my Virtuoso and my E3 to see what comparisons I can make.

Doug

[Chris Waters]

Yes, in our tests any extra mass on the 1st, 2nd and/or 3rd valve casings, no matter how pro-rata by way of whole-tone, semi-tone and tone-and-a-half produced a negative effect/diminishing returns. It was only the 4th valve casing where extra mass proved to be so very beneficial.

[Chris Waters]

Oh, glad the Spacer arrived okay and all the best trying you HBC. Thank you, enjoying being a member of this forum. Blighty cheers, Chris

[Micah.Dominic.Parsons-OFFLINE]

Hello everyone,

I have been testing the new Heavy Bottom Valve Cap for around a month now and I wanted to share some thoughts about this new product.

Over the past few years, there has been a lot of experimentation with adding extra parts to our instruments which has always focused on enhancing the sound and responsiveness of the instrument. I remember having metal tape on certain parts of my instrument which in later years were replaced with LefreQue Plates located in similar positions, this experimentation has filtered through to instrument production with various changes being made to the instrument in production, the most notible of these changes has been the removal of the stay from the new Gold Lacquer Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium.

Between 2012 and 2015, I played on a Sterling Virtuoso Euphonium which was fitted with three half heavy bottom valve caps on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd valves and a heavy bottom valve cap on the 4th valve. This extra weight on the instrument created a darker sound and it was one of the features I missed when I switched over to a Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium.

With this comparison in mind, I was blown away when I received my new Heavy Bottom Valve Cap, the design is of such a high standard that it blends perfectly on my Besson Prestige Euphonium, the cap is easy to put onto the instrument and easy to remove which aids cleaning the valve easier. What suprised me the most was the performance of this new Heavy Bottom Valve Cap which increased my tonal stability and added a security to each note. I believe that the area surrounding the 4th Valve, is quite an open space and I believe the addition of a Heavy Bottom Valve Cap to the 4th valve adds a stability especially when using the 4th valve.

I have been impressed with this Heavy Bottom Valve Cap and it will be something that I will continue to use on my Besson Prestige 2052-2 Euphonium. For anyone who is interested, I filmed my own comparison video which you can view on YouTube at the following link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8g06bNqBTE.

Many Thanks,

Micah Dominic Parsons

[ChristianeSparkle]

Oh, glad the Spacer arrived okay and all the best trying you HBC. Thank you, enjoying being a member of this forum. Blighty cheers, Chris

Hello, was wondering if you've sent out the one for me? Have yet to receive it somehow

[daruby]

Micah,

I now have both an Adams E3 and my 2009 Sterling Virtuoso. I have a complete set of three 4th valve bottom caps for each horn and have been experimenting with them side by side as I do my structured daily routine. With the unweighted bottom cap on both horns, the lower range is not as stable nor does it respond as smoothly as the upper range. I feel like the intervals have larger gaps and the centers of the notes are not as stable. This is most evident starting around concert C (4th valve) in the Bass clef stave and working my way down to the lowest pedal notes.

With the "1/2 weight" bottom caps, the Sterling stabilized nicely. Keep in mind that my Sterling is already quite heavy with the heavy red brass bell. Mine is the 300mm (11.8") instead of 305mm (12") or 310mm (12.2"). The very light weight Adams stabilized somewhat with the 1/2 weight valve cap, but seemed even nicer with the full weight cap, not giving up much in the way of responsiveness, but playing with a more satisfying and stable robustness in the lower range.

Adding the full weight cap to my Sterling did make it darker but it felt as though at the price of some responsiveness and liveliness. I felt like the horn was heading a bit to the "dead" side. At this point, I will continue to play the Sterling with the 1/2 size cap and the Adams with the full size cap.

More later as I get more experience. (Need to find some places to play, though).

Doug

[longhornpatino]

Absolute difference on my B&H Sovereign. I now feel a resonance in the bottom bow on my lap and dynamics are more easily expressed at the ends of the range. This has a definite effect on how the instrument is vibrating at certain points, so much so, that the water catcher now buzzes audibly, which while annoying, it is an easy fix but tells me that there is a change as it does not do this with the regular cap. Machining on that HBC is top notch. I cannot chalk this up to confirmation bias as the comparison is rather compelling.