dburdett

I recently obtained a new Yamaha 8310Z. I was impressed with the smoothness and ease of playing it demonstrated. After playing it for a day at home I noticed that all the valves were slightly mis- aligned on the downstroke. I was able to peer into each slide with a small light and magnifying glasses and see that the downstrokes were not perfect [to the naked eye] in their alignment. The next day I took the horn to Jim Becker at Osmun Music and had him check it out. He suggested an alignment before altering the leadpipe venturi [ala Bobby Shew]. When I got the horn back a week later there was a great improvement. Although the 8310Z still is somewhat restrictive in that the player need to "hold back" and not overblow, each note has now become much more consistant and reliable. Here are the measurements of the valves on the "un-aligned" new horn:

Up stroke Down stroke
#1 +.045" +.023"
#2 +.048" +.021"
#3 +.029" +.013"

As you can see, they were quite a bit off. The alignment did make a signifigant improvement [thanks again to Jim Becker]. One might think that Yamaha would be more accurate in this department.

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Benge MLP B flat,Bach 229 LB H pipe , Bach 189 E Flat, Yamaha 635T Flugel, Yamaha Custom Piccolo, Reeves 43S

flugelgirl

Same deal with my Xeno - I sent it to Bob Reeves and it was 100% better.

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50's Calicchio
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rowuk

Up stroke Down stroke
#1 +.045" +.023"
#2 +.048" +.021"
#3 +.029" +.013"

As you can see, they were quite a bit off. The alignment did make a signifigant improvement [thanks again to Jim Becker]. One might think that Yamaha would be more accurate in this department.

I am not sure if this qualifies as "a bit off". Brett from Getzen could probably give us better insite into what is reasonable in a production environment.

I am also not sure if the "play" that is necessary in any piston valve may not be MORE than this regardless of alignment. The best that an "alignment" can do is to space the "play" out where it does the least amount of damage.

I sometimes think that disalignment could be a useful factor in a horn. I think about all of the great players of the past that didn't worry about such things (or even talk about them). I guess like the medical industry, for every cure that is discovered, we will find a sickness.

For the record, I have my "most played" horns aligned on a regular basis. I have never had a night and day experience though. Am I just lucky, or too insensitive?

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