| Valve Alignment
Although proper valve alignment would appear to be a fairly straight forward scientific concept, the subjective reponse to aftermarket corrections is something less than total satisfaction.
Bob Reeves has been correcting "faulty alignment" for professional players for decades and I have no doubt the majority of those instruments played better afterwards. But I wish I had a dollar for every Schilke sent back to the factory to be returned to original specs.
All of which brings me to that PVA endorsement by Jon Faddis on the Brass Bow web site. Anyone who knows Jon knows that he likes to experiment but he knows exactly what he wants out of a trumpet. When he was in town last March playing a series of concerts with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, he asked Pat Hund(Schilke's valve expert) to undo the PVA done by the Tanabe shop saying it made the horn play "stuffy"
How could this be? I have no idea? Life is too short for me to worry about optimizing my trumpet. I'd rather spend my time learning some new tunes. It is about the music, isn't it? |