Amado keys yes/no?

[Tony Scodwell]

I have posted on the Amado waterkey so many times, this is definitely the last time for me.

Ray Amado invented the waterkey for acoustic reasons with the added advantage of the spring not as likely to break because it is under tension only when depressed. (Anybody ever break a valve spring?)

Yes the circlip is a drag and when disassembling it will fly into a black hole if you don't take precautions. I use a pointed Exacto knife for this and do have many spare circlips. Speaking of the circlip, if anybody needs some PM me and I'd be happy to send you as I have a lot which Ray was kind enough to send me prior to his death.

Cleaning the key is always a topic here on the Forum usually with the resulting sticking piston being mentioned. Oil the piston each time you oil the valves and do push the piston in while doing this. As for cleaning, this can be done without disassembly. A can of computer air blown through the opening with the piston depressed will dislodge any crud hidden behind the key. A compressor is more powerful if you have access to one but the canned air will work just fine. A brush snake through the tubing will not clean anything built up behind the piston nor will something like a SpitBall. The groove in the piston when depressed allows moisture to get out and the small space inside the key where the piston groove is when closed is where the buildup occurs.

The very first Amado waterkey was on the one-off Getzen trumpet Ray made for Doc Severinsen in 1968. The prototype waterkey on this horn had screw on/off endplates instead of the circlip style. Ray simply couldn't justify the expense of making this style and the circlip style was put into production with exclusive rights to use it by Getzen. It was released to other companies in later years.

Don Getzen had left the Getzen Company to start his company DEG and Ray Amado designed a version of his waterkey which eliminated the circlip style with a snap on/off plastic end plate. Monette uses this style today and if you have a lathe it's an easy modification to take a stock waterkey and cut a groove on the outside of the key body to accept this plastic end plate. Of course the waterkey must be removed from the horn and in addition to my offer of sending anybody circlips I have many of these plastic end plates which I'd be happy to send you free of charge.

The Amado key certainly was innovative in it's day as CNC technology didn't exist. Remember, Ray Amado was the only person who developed the Jet-Tone mouthpieces and the ability to duplicate them with accuracy with aluminum templates 10 times larger than the mouthpiece reducing the margin of error by a factor of ten.

I have used the Amado waterkey on my earlier Scodwell USA trumpets and flugelhorns and when Carol Brass started making their variation with the screw on end plate, I switched to those. The opening is a drill size larger and cleaning is a snap. Ray Amado would be pleased.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com

[kehaulani]

If I have a horn that I regularly use, I have oiled the Amados frequently - no problem.

I was asking about a cornet that I never use which has a frozen Amado key that I cannot find a DIY fix on.

A caveat is that the horn is stored in the back of a cramped, walk-in closet and I am in a wheelchair. I would rather put such a horn away and forget it for the time being, than putting it in and taking it out of the closet and oiling it regularly.
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[Shifty]