rowuk

Shermy,
custom valve guides trimmed to fit and eventually grinding the ports to the right size and position are what is required for lateral adjustment. That is why that this is work for a pro!

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

Vulgano Brother

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bachstrad72

I think Reeves does horizontal and vertical alignments. Also, doesn't Sonare have some sort of system that controls alignment? I really am trying to figure out how to swing the bread for an 800S.

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~Perry Sutton~
BM Mason Gross School of the Arts '05
MM Rowan University '07

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Mr. Stomvi

Yes - Reeves does both horz. and vertical alignments.

1. $ 175 vertical - just shims involved to (+/-) .001 "
2. $ 175 horz. - unsoldering valve spring bodies, realigning and then resolder to somewhere maybe near (+/-) .001"

Now here is the problem - You are still probably stuck with (+/-) .015" of side to side rotational slop because of the valve guide clearance with the valve spring body. So to do the job (Properly) you are going to need to have custom valve guides cut to match the valve spring body slot. Now you are talking some real money depending on the brand of horn you have. If it's a Bach, Yammy or Schilke - maybe there is an aftermarket supplier. If not - there is gonna be some custom machining involved. Not cheap.

So to do it (RIGHT) you are probably looking at $ 500 total easily including shipping and labor. Not a whole lot of people are gonna be psyched up about dropping that kind of coin so they usually just half ass it and get the vertical alignment done as it's way, way easier.

Seth Moore

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The "Flattergrub" or literally, the "uncouth flutter" was the very descriptive term that the Germans had for the pedal tone. Apparently some players could produce a "Flattergrub" and nothing more.

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Shermy

Thanks All,

I suspected as much. I just couldn't find that stated anywhere in any of the links posted above.

If you were to get custom valve guides that got rid of a lot of the slop, wouldn't you then run the risk of having your valves jam up due to the closer tolerences in the groove of the valve spring body?

mike ansberry

I've read a lot of comments about the benefits of valve alignment, and I'm not doubting you guys. I have no personal experience with precision valve alignment. I align mine by sight with a mirror every once in a while, and admittedly that won't be anywhere near as precise as they get with their specialized tools. But I think Shermy brings up an interesting point. I don't know about you, but all of my horns have a certain amount of rotational play in the valves because the guides can't be precisely the same size as the slots without restricting movement. They say that errors in alignment in the thousandths makes a difference. But my valves rotate WAY more than a couple of thousandths. How can they make it maintain rotational alignment without restricting valve movement?

Mike

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"Music is a fire in your belly that has to come out of your mouth, so you'd better put a horn in the way before someone gets hurt" (paraphrase of Bleeding Gums Murphy)