The Royal Lancer

So I’m having a custom horn made for me and I told the builder that I wanted the horn to be “slippery” through the partials. When I received the horn I was going through the usual quality checks and examination and I discovered that when I did the little pressure check (remove the slide, plug the lower branch, depress the valve and blow through the horn) that the valves are really leaky, in other words the valves don’t fit tight. The builder says that this is the way to make the horn “slippery”.

Now here’s the dilemma, the horn plays fantastic. The intonation is excellent, tone is great, and I love everything about it except I have the nagging problem (mentally) with the fact that the valves are as leaky as my 1923 Martin.

My teacher says that the valves are unacceptable like this and that I should demand that they be refit before I accept this instrument. The builder is amiable to refit the valves also, but I like the way the horn plays. There has been a lot written on the site about this as a quality measurement of any horn (are the valves tight?). I am asking for opinions regarding the fit of these valves. Do you think it would change the way the horn plays? What would you do?

Sincerely,
Jack

Vulgano Brother

When Olds copied Mendez's Besson they were going crazy because Mendez didn't like them. One day they measured the valves on his horn, found they were leaking, and built one with equally unacceptable valves. Mendez was thrilled.