What other little tricks do you know?

[Trumptrevol]

Recently just learned about the dime trick in the valve caps. What other little tricks like the dime trick do you guys know about?

[oxleyk]

Taking the dimes out and putting them in my pocket.

[royjohn]

You can also use rubber "O" rings with the valve caps, either with or without the coins (weights) in the valve caps. I can't remember what these are supposed to do, but you can figure it out or find it in the archives here. You can also adjust response by changing the tension of the water key spring, and there was a thread about that recently. It seems impossible, but evidently can make a lot of difference in the horn's response.

Of course, you can also measure your gap and try to get it close to 0.125" or even experiment with less.

You can remove braces...the brace between the MTS and the bell is most often either removed or moved...you can use a movable, adjustable brace to experiment or even permanently. These are expensive for the little piece of metal that they are, but you can make one from a turnbuckle or screw threaded rod and a couple of screw flanges. If you're going to do this it helps to do some research and to use a repair guru who knows about these things.

I think I read somewhere about flaring out the ends of tuning slides, but my memory is hazy on doing this.

Of course, you can change your leadpipe, but doing this and removing braces may go beyond what you would call a "little trick." Ditto for a valve alignment.

I guess cleaning out your horn is a great little trick if you've forgotten to do it for a while.

The ultimate "little trick" would be sending your horn to Flip Oakes for his "total enhancement" if he's still doing them. Your horn has to have one of two or three bore sizes that he has the tools for...he evidently cleans out or polishes the bore, or something like that...it's a secret, but folks who have had it done swear by it.

If you can't afford the total enhancement, I guess the ultimate little trick is to practice more...unless you practice too much, in which case the ultimate is to practice less...I guess I'd better stop, right?
_________________
royjohn
Trumpets: 1928 Holton Llewellyn Model, 1957 Holton 51LB, 2010 Custom C by Bill Jones, 2011 Custom D/Eb by Bill Jones
Flugels: 1975 Olds Superstar, 1970's Elkhardt, 1970's Getzen 4 valve
Cornet: 1970's Yamaha YCR-233S . . . and others . . .

[Goby]

Little tricks that don't involve heat/soldering:

Tightening or loosening the screw on the water key to adjust responsiveness

The "Bobby Shew" tweak of using a brass rod to tap the entrance/venturi of the leadpipe giving it a slight lip

Brass valve stems to add a little weight

Nickel vs. Brass caps/buttons for Bach trumpets to alter the weight at the valve block

Adjustable mouthpieces (modular systems, adjustable gaps, etc)

Metal valve guides to increase projection

Neoprene corks leak a little, so use real corks on the water keys if you have lever keys instead of Amados

Using a LeFreque to bridge the mouthpiece to the trumpet

Keeping your horn clean improves its playability more than any trick or toy you can attach to your horn, in my opinion

[deleted_user_687c31b]

Making sure that any screws (both for water keys, lyres & valves) aren't overly tight. They shouldn't get loose, but anything tighter than that can affect a horn's resonance negatively.

[Brassnose]

Clean your horn (and mouthpiece, I realized that one pretty late …) on a regular basis, oil and grease, practice rather than spend time on a trumpet forum (yes, I am guilty of that …), have your music sorted out when you go to a rehearsal or gig.

Plus, at least for me: don’t change horns all the time but get to know your axe(s) inside out to be able to perform as best as you can.

Oh yeah, and really warm up before a gig or long session.
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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

[trickg]

There's this neat trick of putting in some really focused practice in the practice room. That usually helps.
_________________
Patrick Gleason
- Jupiter 1600i, ACB 3C, Warburton 4SVW/Titmus RT2
- Brasspire Unicorn C
- ACB Doubler

"95% of the average 'weekend warrior's' problems will be solved by an additional 30 minutes of insightful practice." - PLP

[zaferis]