Valve rebuild worth it for an early Conn 6B?

[gjdoyle]

Picked up a 1957 Conn 6B on a whim without seeing it in person and it turns out that the 3rd valve is pretty worn. Ouch. Thankfully I got it for pretty cheap. Any thoughts on whether a rebuild would even be worth it? Theoretically it's a great horn, but valve work isn't cheap. It's a 50/50 I want to keep the horn with a valve rebuild, and I definitely have no use for it without. I'm just wanting input on what others think the "financially responsible" thing to do would be. How much would it be worth to resell with the rebuild vs without?

[Andy Cooper]

Just checking - you say that it appears worn - do you mean there is no compression when you push out the 3rd slide or that the valve sticks.

[gjdoyle]

Minimal compression, piston seems to wiggle in the casing.
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1972 Olds Recording
1947 Reynolds Cornet

[Dayton]

The last valve overhaul I had done was in 2022 and the cost was $750 for three valves. Even if that is the only work you have done on the horn it is a lot of money to "invest" in a horn you are only 50% sure you'll keep. On the other hand, it probably won't sell for much if a purchaser knows that they are going to have to pay for a valve overhaul....

If the other two valves are fine, and you really only need to have one valve replated, and there isn't any other work you need done, you could probably recoup that $200 or so if you sell it.

[Goby]

Assuming you have no sentimental attachment to the horn, a valve rebuild is probably not justifiable. Assuming the horn is playable and otherwise in decent shape, it's probably worth $300 for the parts, maybe $400 if you find an enthusiastic buyer. A valve rebuild is going to run between $500 and $800 and take multiple months to complete. After getting the horn back, you've sunk quite a bit of time and money into it, and the upside isn't really there for a Conn 6B. I think you're better off selling for a small profit and moving onto the next horn.

[Richard III]

I've got a few horns like yours. I got them because they are hard to find.

But I have one question. I've never found a horn with the third valve so worn. In my experience, they wear based on usage with the order being first through third. I have two or three horns that would totally work if I just had the first valve done.

Your description makes me wonder what happened with this horn. Were the first two valves rebuilt at some point?

Now on to another idea. I've done this in the past. I've traded horns that I didn't really want to a tech in exchange for work done on a horn I did want. They got horns they could use for parts, some of them impossible to find, for work they could do in house. Just a thought.
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Richard

King 1130 Flugabone
King 12C mouthpiece

[Andy Cooper]

Oh - check the 3rd valve slide by itself and be sure the water key is not leaking either from a bad cork or a weak spring adding to the problem.

I have one with poor compressing in all valves - it's playable with heavy valve oil. I've learned that I really don't like small bore trumpets - it was worth a try.

I plan to give it to a friend who has too much disposable income.

[TKSop]

[Jimbosan]

The 1957 Conn 6b has Crysteel valves. I thought they were bulletproof. At least the valves on my 1947 22b seem to be. I would double check to make sure it's not the slide or the water key that's leaking. Try a thicker oil on just that valve, like Hetman's No. 3 or Yamaha Vintage oil. Rebuilding the valve is not worth it, IMO and I'm not sure what has to be done or how much it would cost to rebuild a stainless valve. I only paid $100 for my 22b because the lacquer looked really bad. It had great valves and slides and no dents. It just looked ugly. The lacquer came off easily so it's raw brass with a nice patina now. You should be able to find another vintage Conn that has good valves.
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Kanstul FBClassic bflat&C
'42 Buescher205
'45 Committee
'47 Holton48
'47 Conn22b
'48 Benge
'69 Olds Custom Crafted
'78 Getzen Eterna
'64 Bach Strad Cornet
'62 Olds Spl Cornet
'64 Conn 80a
'54 Conn 34a
Benge flugel
Olds,DEG Bugles

[Brassnose]

If it really IS the valve — can you ask a tech if he/she has a spare good valve lying around and check if that improves things? The tuning slide on my 6B has red rotted out (I knew that before purchase) but by accident my tech had another one lying around. Sometimes techs that have been in business for awhile may just have the part you need. If another valve doesn’t improve things, maybe the issue is at some other place.
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2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Frate, Klier

[Halflip]

[gjdoyle]

Yeah, I've also never seen a third valve worn and not the others. The compression on the other two is OK, definitely not rebuilt. I have no idea what would've happened. I did have my tech look at it though and he confirmed my suspicions on the valve as well -- "valve is shot, use Hetman, etc." Not convinced it wasn't bad work by a tech at some point. As far as I can tell, no visible signs of damage anywhere else.
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1972 Olds Recording
1947 Reynolds Cornet

[Halflip]

There is always the possibility that a previous owner tried to address a problem with the third valve through "do-it-yourself" means and bodged it up.
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"He that plays the King shall be welcome . . . " (Hamlet Act II, Scene 2, Line 1416)

"He had no concept of the instrument. He was blowing into it." -- Virgil Starkwell's cello teacher in "Take the Money and Run"

[TKSop]

[J.D. Heckathorn]

Great replies here, but I wanted to add that I think it might be worth sending to a reputable tech and have then assess the potential issues/options for repair. Unless you’re a pro repair tech it will be very difficult to discern if what your horn has is a bigger structural problem or not.

It’s entirely possible a proper alignment (not rebuild) and thicker oil could do the trick to make it playable.

Lastly, in terms of if it’s worth to have the cost of the work done, I actually think if you want to play the horn enough it’s worth it. In addition, many older vintage Conns have seen a significant increase in value on the used market especially ones in playing condition. So it’s possible you could at worst recoup if you sell down the line.
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Antediluvian Projekt - An Experiment In Trumpet & Progressive Metal
https://www.instagram.com/antediluvianjohn/

[Richard III]

[jmullins356]

[Leatherlip]

I bought a old Conn 40B Vocabell years ago and thought the 3rd valve was worn with no real compression. I discovered that one of the soldered ports in the valve itself had a tiny crack or pin hole. Tech was able to just solder that pin hole which, in my case, fixed the leaky valve issue. I bought a Bach once that the previous owner had a relief hole drilled in the lower part on the valve so that there was no resistance in using the 3rd slide. And lastly, besides listening to the slide make a popping sound, I've also pulled the 1st valve slide, covered the top slide port with my thumb, pushed all 3 valves down and blew into the mouthpiece. If there are leaking valves, you might hear or feel air escaping around the bottom cap.

Best of luck.