teacherchops

I originally posted this over at trumpetherald...

Hi all,
I 've been playing the "Shew" flugel for about a year. Recently I've been using it a lot and have encountered two problems which did not happen when using the horn occasionally:

1) the valves stick quite a bit, especially the 1st valve. I'm using Al Kass oil, and I've cleaned the valves repeatedly.

2) I can't seem to get all the water out of the horn. It seems to gurgle on notes on the 2nd valve.

I love the horn..it plays very easy with the above exceptions....any thought? suggestions???

thanks,
Mark

hornguy

Check the valve springs.

If the springs are compressed or have gotten weak, them clean vales and good oil are meaningless.

If the horn is old, you should think about replacing them. For a quick fix, you can take the springs out and GENTLY pull them to make them longer.

nieuwguyski

Try a different oil. Not all oils work with all horns.

__________________
John N. Nieuwguyski

rowuk

Mark,
Oil floats on water. You MUST ALWAYS run a rag, chamois, etc. through the valve casing and COMEPLETELY dry the valve before oiling. Oiling the water will not prevent the valve from sticking. Petroleum based oils have a lubrication life of less than 24 hours. After that, the paraffin and other additives from the oils as well as your and aerosols from your breath are left, but the useful petroleum part has evaporated. That means oil fresh EVERY day, or get some synthetic valve oil like UltraPure.

I have never had a piston spring "fail" in less than 15 years, so I don't think that is the problem
I have never had a flugel that didn't gurgle at some point. You have to put on the detective hat to find it. I suspect that you hold the flugel angled up or down and that the main spit key is not at the lowest point to let the spit out. Just because it gurgles when pressing the second valve does not mean that the water is there. The gurgle comes when a pressure node in the horn finds water. Each note sets up different nodes in the horn

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

teacherchops

Thanks for all of the help. Rowuk, I think you've solved my problem, I have not been drying out the valve casing or piston...I've never had to do that with my other horns but the tolerance on the yammie is very tight.
Thanks folks!
Mark

Sterling

I have a 6310Z flugel as well. I have talked with a few people in my area that have this instrument. We all have a sluggish first valve that needs a little attention after the horn has been idle for a few days. It's not a fatal flaw, but it is annoying. I've used Zaja Blue, Hetman, Light Piston oil, and a few others with the same effectiveness. I also have a Yamaha 631 Flugelhorn that I bought new in 1976 and it has similar valve problems. Both are beautiful sounding horns.

GordonH

The reason why its the first valve is that all the grot from the leadpipe gets blown into the first valve on a flugel horn, just like the 4th valve on a Schilke style pic. This doesnt happen on Bb trumpet much because the leadpipe is longer and has the bend of the tuning slide to filter out the rubbish.

__________________
"O trumpeter, methinks I am myself the instrument thou playest,
Thou melt'st my heart, my brain--thou movest, drawest, changest
them at will;" (Walt Whitman)