Dear listers - some idle thoughts on the recent repair thread:
throughout my years as a horn player I have sought to learn more about how
my horn works [call me an equipment/techie nerd if you want] and always do as
much as I can as regards maintaining and repairing my instruments. I
fortunately never took the next step, e.g. valve acid cleaning, until I had
researched and/or been taught how to do so. This probably resulted from lack
of financing and simply an innate curiosity on my part. When I have the need I
will take it to a repair shop, but only one I trust. Despite my own
adventuresomeness I would hesitate to tell most high school kids to go and take
apart their valves through the list, unless I could determine that someone
would them while they do it.
I feel we should encourage every horn player to learn all that they can
about maintaining and basic repair, but that we should also encourage them to
have a trained, respected tech do most things that honestly they have just the
right equipment to do. der Perfesser and I once had a most lively online
discussion about building a horn from Home Depot resources, and once we were
able to clarify our perspectives on what the end result would be quality-wise,
we parted on very congenial terms. [He even signed my copy of his Mozart
concertos when I was able to meet him in person this year.] Personally I
would love to be know and do everything that Mr. DeHaro and Ken Pope do about
horns. But until I do, I will take any serious repairs issues to them, and
know that I will get the best treatment. I know from personal experience
that a binding valve can often be misplaced string tension, and it follows that
a mechanically awkward linkage would probably cause even more of a p
roblem.
I think that Mr. DeHaros method, while not the easiest for him to perform,
does solve the problem, not just postpone its recurrence. Which would you
rather have - a permanent solution or a temporary cessation of the problem?
On a personal note, I have had the pleasure of having discussions with Ken
Pope, Dave Weiner, and Chris Huning from Paxman - all of whom are indeed
honorable, congenial, upstanding people, and of course excellent horn
technicians. One can sense from them a true love of the horn and the desire to
make life as easy as possible for those who play it.
Paxmaha
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