Alex Yates

Yes Jason, that I understand. I will just have to wait until I can try it next week and see what happens. You can be my ears and see what you think. The Yamahas have a bit of a mellower sound than the Schilkes. If the sound gets a little more "brilliant" that will be ok, but I don't want it to get darker. It is fine the way it sounds now. I have had several folks who WERE going to buy a Schilke change their mind after hearing me and then trying my horn. They ended up purchasing the Yammie over the Schilke. It depends on the player mainly and personal taste.

dizforprez

I look foward to being the fly on the wall for this one....I am sure I will get to learn a lot from you.

tromj

I have the same horn, from around the same time. In retrospect, I think ther three valve with the rotary valve might have been a better pick for me, but so goes it. I agree with those that have suggested that you be in touch with Wayne at Yamaha. Who knows, he may be able to do some more tweaking than just a valve alignment, and you could have yourself a prototype for a new Yammie, the AY model.

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Bach 37
Yamaha 8310Z
Yamaha 631 Flugel
Getzen 850 Cornet
Yamaha Picc
Yamaha Xeno C 8445
Monette B1-5M, B1-5F, B1-5D cornet, Stork 3P, Monette C1-5M

sinfoniantrumpeter

Alex,

before I sold my Yamaha Custom, I used Cliff's pipes on it. While intonation and response were very much improved, the sound was quite different (I would describe it as darker). In addition, with the pipe being more open, range and endurance can become an issue. Meaning it wouldn't be a great solution if you were doing the Telemann or something.

But hey, it's worth a try.

I would also agree with the valve alignment...you'll be surprised.

Alex Yates

Thank you very much everyone. I really appreciate the feedback and am considering the valve alignment solution as well. I am going to try the Blackburn leadpipe next weekend, just for kicks if he has one available, but I am not committed to buying one. I personally think a VA is going to be unavoidable and should be done regardless. This trumpet has given me 13 years of good service, so it is time to give it some TLC and refreshment. It is still very playable, but I know it could use "something" to improve it overall after playing the newer models. The improvement was not so glaring that I want to buy a new one, but since I know these things are available to improve trumpets in general, I am hoping there is help available for my little one.

Mentioning Wayne, even though he works for Yamaha now, I don't know if he is allowed to tinker with horns anymore......that is, if he has the same kind of contract as Bob Malone. Is there anyone who can PM me contact information for him? I would really appreciate it. If I can send it off to him for some tinkering, that would be GREAT! Thanks for the idea Tromj!

Thanks again, all of you!

poochie

Wayne's number at the Yamaha Atelier in NYC is 212-339-0032.I had an alignment done on my picc (which is 15 trs old) and it worked wonders for me. The slotting is consistent top to bottom as is the pitch.The high concert A on the A side was sharp as was the F#,problem solved with the valve alignment and cleaning,plus Wayne and the whole Yamaha staff are great people.