Hello, everyone,
I bought an Adams E1 in December 2020, from Austin Custom Brass. The entire process was a great experience, and I love the horn. For what it's worth, it's a .70 gauge, yellow brass, with brushed lacquer finish.
The only thing I don't like about the horn, and it's a big issue, is that it plays flat. If I have my tuner set at A=442, I have to push the main slide in all the way, and I STILL have to lip up the regular tuning note Bb. If my tuner is set to A=440, I can fairly easily play in tune, as long as I have the main slide all the way in.
I don't want to have the main slide all the way in just to be able to play at A440. There are obvious problems with this, like, what do I do when I encounter an accompanist with a piano/organ that is significantly sharp?
I'm curious if anyone else that plays Adams horns has encountered this issue, and if so, what you did to solve it.
I am playing a Doug Elliott mouthpiece with an N104 rim, I cup, and I8 shank. It's the same mouthpiece I used on my previous horn (mid-1970s Besson New Standard), and I never had any trouble with that horn playing flat. Quite the opposite, in fact!
Things I have already tried, none of which have solved my problem:
- Different mpc (have tried a Wick 3AL, 4BL, and other combinations of Doug Elliott)
- Tried a shorter shank on my existing Elliott mpc, made for me by Doug with the express purpose of raising the pitch. This has helped *a bit*, but not enough.
- Tried putting the AGR in the all-the-way-in position
I DID contact the dealer to inquire about possible solutions, and they said they would be happy to order me a shorter main slide, but that I would also need to have the tubes that receive the main slide made a bit shorter as well, by a competent repair tech.
I'm no conspiracy theorist, but the fact that there is an OPTION of ordering a shorter main tuning slide makes me think that this is a "known issue," and if that is the case, then I'm sort of thinking there should be some sort of disclosure, prior to purchase, i.e. "a lot of people say these horns play flat, and we offer a shorter tuning slide in case that's a concern for you," or something along those lines.
As I said, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the horn, but this seems like a pretty major problem. If anyone has any ideas or insight, I am all ears. Thanks for your time and consideration.
Ed