Taylor Trumpet sticky and noisy valve

[Chefcaleb]

First off, hopefully I posted this topic in the correct forum... Anyway, I recently bought a like new demo trumpet from Andy Taylor. I love the trumpet. It is a Chicago II Lite. Sounds amazing and plays amazing as well. But there is just something about the valves that just don't seem right to me. I also have a "antique" Taylor, as it were. It is, according to him, one of the first Chicago trumpet models he made. It is also built like a tank and weighs about as much as one too. The valves are much larger and have the spring over piston design as opposed to the spring in piston design of the newer Chicago one. Anyway, this older Taylor has valves that are as quiet as can be and operate like smooth butter. I rarely have to oil them as warm air seems to suffice. But with this newer Chicago, I have to oil every day and even then, it seems to still stick every once and a while and what is most annoying, the springs seem to be very "clangy" or noisy. I guess my expectations were just very high given my older Taylor. Perhaps they were too high? I was wondering if there are any fellow Taylor owners who can chime in and say whether they have had any issues with their valves and if their valves are noisy at all or if they feel they have to oil them every day or more than usual? I do wonder if their are better springs I can buy to alleviate the noisiness of their operation. I bought some Yamaha springs but that just made everything worse.

But what's more, I contacted Andy and he suggested I send it in to Martin Wilk. So I did. The third valve slide is needs some attention any way so it was worth it. Anyway, Martin suggests I nickel plate the valves to alleviate my sticky issues and to allow for more smooth operation. And since this is a 400 buck operation, I wanted to see if anyone on here thinks this is worth that price tag. I've owned a few trumpets in my day and a couple of them have had issues with sticky valves, which is my greatest annoyance. Except of course my old Taylor, that thing works like a charm, those valves are a Godsend. Anyway, I would love some insight. And I will say, I realize that I may not have the best technique when it comes to how I depress the valves; that I may not be depressing them straight down, but I do try to pay attention to how I am pressing them and the problems persist. Thanks so much.
_________________
Just a guy that likes to toot my own horn. Literally.

[homebilly]

unless you are in love with the horn I'd dump it and save yourself the headache

my .02¢ (worth .00005¢) after inflation
_________________
ron meza (deadbeat jazz musician) & (TH 5 post ghost neighborhood watch ringleader)
waiting for Fed-Ex to deliver a $50 trumpet to my door. shipping was prepaid by seller of course!
http://ronmeza.com
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[Chefcaleb]

[TKSop]

I'm not saying it should happen, but sometimes newer valves just need a bit more care and attention than well worn-in ones do...

I'm assuming it's a hoxxon block (the older one would have been the old bauerfeinds)?
I've had quite a few horns with that block (all Eclipse's, but it's the same supplier) and they've all benefited from regular cleaning whilst fairly new, and they've been better with lighter weight synthetic oils (I personally like Ultrapure ultra-lite best)... but once working well, they're one of the nicest blocks I've had the pleasure of using.

Regardless of whether it feels like they need it, ALL valves should be oiled regularly - at the very least every day IMHO. It doesn't take much time or effort, but it could save a lot of headache down the line.


I'm not sure I get the recommendation to plate a virtually brand-new valveset - they're not old, worn valves that should need that kind of work... It would be very interesting to know why the tech recommended that.

[LittleRusty]

I suspect that you have valve blocks made by two different companies. I seem to remember something about Bauerfind being used in the earlier Taylors. They often are accompanied by the "buttery" feel description.

If the valves are sticking on the return, especially after a long note, I would suspect that the valves are loosely fitted and could benefit from a rebuild. Or try a thicker oil. It doesn't work for all, but for my 72 strad which suffered from the "sticky after long notes" issues for decades, switching to Berp Bio oil made the issue go away.

Martin should have done a compression test that would help determine the fit.

However, the noisy spring issue might not be solvable even if the sticking issue is.

[Chefcaleb]

[Chefcaleb]

[Geodude]

If this is basically a new horn, you may well still be in the break in period where you need to be pretty attentive to cleaning and oiling. If you search a bit you should be able to find a post from Tom Turner (pretty sure) regarding breaking in new valves. It involved frequent oiling and piston and casing wiping until things settled in. That being said, I'm not sure that well oiled and scrupulously clean pistons and casings are going to address your noisy springs. Good luck getting things sorted.

[LittleRusty]

[scipioap]

[nordlandstrompet]

Which oil are you using?

Next step: Clean the valves and cases properly and reoil with TrombaT2 oil
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CarolBrass Scandinavia
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[nordlandstrompet]

[Chefcaleb]

[Chefcaleb]

[nordlandstrompet]

[Chefcaleb]

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[Zman]

[nordlandstrompet]

[Zman]