| A valve alignment may indeed help the poor slotting, but a more likely culprit is the wrong gap. I imagine there is some inconsistancies in the way Bach solders the receiver to the leadpipe. I have resorted to bringing a digital caliper along when I am testing horns. Granted, the exact same gap may not work for everybody, but I have found with Bach trumpets that plus or minus a few thousandths from .125 or 1/8 of an inch seems to work for me. I don't measure the gap until I have played the horn for a bit, and if the horns is not slotting right, I measure the gap. Almost always, it is way under (and sometimes way over) that "magic" .125)
I have also found that a little larger gap helps in the upper register, but you have to find the right compromise to fit the whole register of the horn.
Again, this is what works for me.
Mike |