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TimBrown
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 742
Location: Galesburg Illinois
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 Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2003 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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Just wondering; I have an Olds Ambassador ('65) that I gave to a young girl to cut her teeth on. The valves (monel, I believe) stick every great once in a while.
The question is; is it worth getting this fixed? Especially when you can get a decent ambassador for maybe $200 or less. I have no idea what this would cost...
Tim
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AeroStud1026
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 16 Nov 2003
Posts: 520
Location: Buena New Jersey
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| Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2003 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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hmm...the valves as in all of them?....or just one perticular valve?.....if so ur valve might be bent.....im not sure on what it would cost around where u live to un bend it...but the place i take my horns to did it for 40 bucks.....the casing might be bent too....if so that would be alittle cheaper to fix i think.....if all the valves stick....which happened to one of my old old instruments....put it on the shelf and dont bother fixing it
[ This Message was edited by: AeroStud1026 on 2003-12-20 22:34 ] |
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oneeyedhobbit
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Joined: 22 Mar 2003
Posts: 464
Location: Minneapolis
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| Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2003 7:54 pm Post subject: |
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| If its just a student horn, you could probably have them cheaply lapped by your local repairperson, if needed. It won't be the same as a valve rebuild or anything, but I got my old horns valves relapped after a friend stupidly dropped them when he borrowed it for $70 (of course he payed:) ) |
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valvepimp
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Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 496
Location: New York, NY
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| Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2003 8:04 pm Post subject: |
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If it were me and I loved the way it played, I'd buy an identical horn for a very cheap price from a similar era and see if I could get lucky and swap out either the entire valve(s) or maybe just their springs. This can be even cheaper than the valve-lapping, but there is some risk involved.
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trumpetmike
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Posts: 11315
Location: Ash (an even smaller place ), UK
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| Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2003 2:14 am Post subject: |
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Go and visit your local friendly repairman, see what they say.
Most of the repair guys I know will happily give you their opinion about whether something is worth repairing or not, they won't try and screw you over just to get the money.
We on TH can only say so much without actually seeing the instrument, it needs to be seen in person to make a worthwhile assesment. |
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Bruce Lee
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 15 Jul 2003
Posts: 759
Location: Rochester, NY
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| Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2003 3:47 am Post subject: |
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Tim,
| Quote: | | Just wondering; I have an Olds Ambassador ('65) that I gave to a young girl to cut her teeth on. The valves (monel, I believe) stick every great once in a while. |
I would recommend a thoroughly cleaning of the horn, paying particular attention to the valve section, before taking any more drastic action. The 3rd valve is usually the first to stick, as that's the path that the air travels through the horn. Anything that gets into, and through, the leadpipe will end up there. Usually, Dawn dishwashing liquid and warm water are enough to clean most horns. Remove the pistons, and place them in a glass, or jar, of the soapy water, and soak the whole horn in the soapy water. It would be best to remove all of the slide, and the bottom caps of the valves,as well. Simple Green is another product that works very well to remove "impurities". Be sure to use a snake and a valve brush for cleaning, to help make certain that things are cleaned thoroughly. Metal polish can be used on the inner tubes of the slides to clean them. Toothpaste also works wonders on the slides, and the pistons.
After everything has been thoroughly cleaned, rinse it carefully with clean cool water. Dry it off, using a lint-free cloth, grease all slides, oil the valves, and you should be fine.
I hope that this helps!
Best always,
Bruce
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TimBrown
Heavyweight Member
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 742
Location: Galesburg Illinois
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| Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2003 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the ideas. I'll call about a relapping. they all have a mild problem...just bad enough to make you shy to trust it except for practicing. I told her to oil it before every playing, and that helps but it gets tedious.
The horn has been thoroughly cleaned numerous times, so that's not it...
Thanks,
Tim
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Kanstul Meha .470
L.A. Benge 3x+ 9879
1912 Holton New Proportion cornet
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King 1122 MFH
10 out of 10 people die. Do you consider yourself to be a good person? |
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