New to trumpet, got a used damaged instrument...

Nubster · New Member Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Posts: 2

Not actually mine but my son's. He's 11 and started band this year at school. He's chose trumpet. I thought I might take the opportunity to try learning as well.

Anyways, my younger brother had a trumpet but never learned to play. So he gave it to me for my son. At one point he (my brother) had dropped it onto the mouthpiece and it got stuck so it was taken to a shop to be removed. Not sure it was messed with since that and just sat in the case under his bed for several years. We ordered a new mouth piece because my brother lost his and my son's teacher specified a different size anyways and all seemed fine.

But once we got the horn home, we found that the #2 valve was sticking. Took it apart and gave it a good cleaning and oiled. Still sticking. I told my son to show his teacher and no help there. So did some more looking and found that the #2 valve slide was dented and evidently the valved was bent towards the back of the trumpet causing the sticky valve. The dent in the slide takes up about 1/4 of the volume. So two questions....

1. Can the slide be repaired, does it need repaired, any idea if it would be cheaper to replace (about $35) or fix? Shop is over an hour away...haven't had a chance to stop in to talk to them.

2. Can the bent valve tube be unbent at home? I saw somewhere that applying some pressure over the course of a few days may be enough to relieve the pressure. It takes little forward pressure to unstick the valve so I don't think it's bent much...just enough to cause problems. I'd really like to avoid costly repairs if possible.

The trumpet is a Yamaha YTR-2335.

dstdenis · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 4:23 am Post subject:

That's a common problem with trumpets, especially student instruments: the 2nd valve slide gets bumped, or the kid sets the instrument down with the second valve slide pointed down (yikes!), and the thing gets bent. Brass repair techs fix this all the time.

I'd take it to a tech, who could bend the slide back to free the valve, and also inspect the overall condition of the instrument... maybe find other issues that you haven't spotted yet and fix those. I've seen brass techs fix this exact problem for very little cost (actually, the guy I saw fixed it for free, but the kid's parents had bought the instrument at that store). I can't promise for sure what the brass tech might charge, but I'd be surprised if it was expensive.

You could just pull on the thing yourself, but not having experience doing that, you'd have to accept the risk that you might damage the horn even worse, leading to much more expensive repairs.

You could also get a quote on removing the dent in the valve slide. The estimate would depend on the nature of the dent, but it might be pretty inexpensive. If it's a small dent, you might not need to fix it. The brass tech could advise you on this.

Bottom line: these don't sound like expensive repairs, and it's worth having a tech inspect the horn for general condition. Good luck!
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Nubster · New Member Joined: 20 Sep 2017 Posts: 2

Thanks for the reply. Yeah...that's what I'll end up doing. Just not sure when I'll be able to get into the shop to have it checked out. Maybe I'll try to get in this weekend. I need to get it sorted asap so he can practice without the issue of the stuck valve.

LittleRusty · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:19 am Post subject:

Brad361 · Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 7:36 am Post subject:

Yep, common problem especially with kids' horns. Just last night I had an eighth grade private lesson student lay his fairly new Bach Stradivarius on the chair, right on the second slide. I of course told him why that's a bad idea. This same kid is also using a GIG BAG, TERRIBLE idea for a kid, accident waiting to happen....and probably will.

As mentioned, a trip to a tech is your best bet. The dent in the slide can most likely be pushed out, but bending the slide back to JUST the right spot can be tricky. It's also POSSIBLE the the valve casing will need work also, just depends on how hard the second slide got whacked.

Brad
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When asked if he always sounds great:
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