Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:09 am Post subject: Valve Alignments?
Anyone have any direct experience with a valve alignment? I've seen mixed opinions on the value. (The Shilke Loyalist website is luck warm on the need for example.) If you've had one done who performed the work? (Reeves, BrassBow, etc.)
Thanks. _________________ Cornet: 1961 Conn Connstellation
Trumpet: Conn Director
I had a Bach Strad #37 that I had aligned by Reeves. It opened the horn up greatly and took away any resistance the horn used to have. It takes awhile to get used to but once you do, it's great.
Chris
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 6:54 pm Post subject: valve alignment
To find out if you are in need of an alignment job, simply remove the second valve slide, look into the open ports and depress the valve. If the holes line up vertically with the valve down then no more need be done. If your instrument is of decent quality the other two valves will likewise be in proper alignment if the valve cap buttons are all at the same height when the valves are depressed.In the case of some of the bottom line horns that will not be the case, but who wants to spend more for an alignment job than the P.O.S. was worth when it was new?
BTW, the alignment is a doityourselfer. Simply add or subtract felt spacers as needed to get the valves to line up with the slide ports. You can check the first and third valves with a piece of wire.
A valve alignment done correctly is far from a do it yourself job. Having an expert like Steve Winan (better known as Dr. Valve) do a valve alignment on your instrument can totally change the way your horn plays. Rather than tell you in my words what he does, I'll tell you in his words:
Quote:
Optimum Port Matching Valve Alignment
An Optimum Port Matching Valve Alignment is a procedure that optimizes the valve port and casing port match-up, which improves the evenness of response of the instrument.
My basic approach to this is to NOT modify the existing metal parts. Most of the time, this is possible; sometimes it is not.
First, the trumpet is playtested, and the existing alignment is inspected. Following this inspection, custom pads are cut, installed, and adjusted with shims to optimize the alignments of the ports in the valves with the ports in the casing. I use a variety of composition (non-felt) pads which are NOT weather sensitive and maintain correct alignment for a very long time.
On many instruments, because of the way the casings and valves were drilled during manufacture, perfect alignment of all the holes is not possible. In these cases, the optimum port alignment is chosen based on my understanding of the instrument as a trumpet player and my knowledge of the physics of air flow through the instrument.
If requested, your previous pads can be bagged and tagged with specific locations indicated so that you could easily reverse the procedure, and return to your original setup.
The rate for an Optimum Port Matching Valve Alignment on most horns is $100. If done with a valve or instrument overhaul, the rate is $50.00.
Dr. Valve is a world leader in this procedure, and I would suggest using his services if you are serious about having your valves aligned. To learn more more about Dr. Valve's services you can go to http://www.doctorvalve.com _________________ "To be a teacher you need to be as good a performer as you can be: you'll have more to impart to your students musically." - John Haynie
I have had Bob Reeves alignment done on my cornet, Bb, C, and piccolo trumpet. In each and every case I have experienced improvements in intonation and less resistance. Well worth the money. Next up will be my flugelhorn and any other horn I buy in the future. _________________ Harry Marks
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