I have to say, this has been one very interesting thread to read!
Steve, any recommendations on brands of Valve oil? I try to convince
my students NOT to buy Al Cass oil as I read the comments by Wes
Hatch that Al Cass will gum up Holton Valves. Since I am one of the
people on this list that (gasp!!!!) likes Holton Horns and readily
recommends them to his students, (Yes everyone, I encourage my
students to oil their valves often). I am interested in any
particular brand of oil you recommend to those who come into your shop.
By the way, Don't you Conn people start on me since I happen to like
Holton, I listened to Louis Stout many years ago on why he liked
Holton, and since at that time I owned a Holton 77, I thought it was
cool because one of the greatest of all time designed it...so
there!!! I equate it as one who likes a Chevy over a Ford...So now, I
will gum up the valves by adding I now play an Alex...lol...but I
still like Holtons...
I gotta get to A2 one of these days and see you....
Walt Lewis
At 09:46 PM 1/8/2006, you wrote:
I guess there are three people that can make good valves go bad. The
manufacturer, the player and the repair tech.
I still see many brand new horns that have all kinds of manufacturing
grit left inside the valves and the rest of the horn. Our local
school system
just bought a bunch of new Holtons which I cleaned out for free
because I didn't
want to deal with the potential problems later. It was truly remarkable how
much buffing compound, etc. was in those horns. Just add valve oil and you
have liquid sandpaper which will give you no valves to worry about in short
order. Remember also that dirt is attracted to and held by oil so
clean the horn
often enough. That dirt will cause wear to the valves and tuning slides.
Even players who take good care of their horn can have trouble when they
go on vacation. When the horn's in the closet, the valve oil will evaporate
much sooner than the water that's in there. When you get home, your
valves are
green and stuck. Hans has spelled out with wonderful clarity how to take
care of the horn otherwise. Don't let the problems happen in the
first place,
your horn could be ruined forever if you don't maintain it carefully.
Some repair shops can be a real danger zone! Many local music stores
don't understand that rotor valves should be airtight. They will
soak the valves
(and the whole horn) in acids for a long time, they will sand or machine buff
or otherwise destroy the rotors, they will put lapping compound or other
abrasives in the casing and rotate the valve around until it works
(that's even
recommended in one repair manual). Talk to the person who's going to do the
work and get an idea whether they understand the airtight thing. Ask what,
specifically they intend to do and ask if you can watch them do
it. If you don't
get a good feeling, try someone else. The wrong kind of "repair" will ruin
your horn forever!
Good luck and buy some valve oil tomorrow!
- Steve Mumford
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