self clearing waterkeys Joy-valve

[smcope]

What's wrong with the plain old Bach style water keys!? Whenever I've had an amado water key put on a horn, I hate the way it plays, but when the bach water key gets reinstalled, the horn is back to normal!

[veery715]

There are folks who believe that the traditional lever style water key, which has a nipple which projects out from the slide, may interfere with the setting up of the standing wave in the trumpet, especially if it coincides with a node of that wave.

The Amado, saturn, or Joy keys are supposed to reduce the possibility of interference because there is less disturbance of the bore of the horn where the key is installed.
_________________
veery715
Hear me sing!: https://youtu.be/vtJ14MV64WY
Playing trumpet - the healthy way to blow your brains out.

[jonalan]

[jbrown44]

I installed one on my cornet last week and I'm loving it. It may be just my attention deficit issues, but hearing the crackling and having to empty the water used to break my concentration when I was practicing and in the "zone." So yes, it's slightly annoying to have my horn dribbling on me, but I find the trade off well worth it. I plan to experiment with some sort of absorbent material under a leather/velcro strap or something, if it's not too ugly. But water simply no longer accumulates in my cornet. The third slide water key is now superfluous. And I have not noticed any difference in tone, pitch, or playability.

As far as being future proof: apparently you can clean the element in an ultrasonic jewelry cleaner. And yes, my research tells me it's sintered metal and is somehow or other "hydrophylic," which means I guess that surface tension is low so the water flows through readily. As someone mentioned, you can find very similar products (e.g. https://bit.ly/32CZiQZ) though I suppose you'd want to contact the manufacturer and describe what it's for to make sure it would be compatible.

[Brad361]

[deleted_user_687c31b]

With COVID-19 the last thing you'd want is an instrument that randomly leaks spit everywhere.

Apart from that, clearing the moisture from my instrument manually before playing is one of my mental preparations (OCD, I know) that helps me focus so I'll pass on these.

[James Becker]

Let me share a little bit of our experience installing Joy Keys.

First off, the inventor is a Horn player. French Horns are much more difficult to clear water from due to all the turns, so it makes sense they stand to benefit more from this device.

Second, the seal improves when the mesh material is fully saturated.

Most of what we’ve installed are on Horns. However, we’ve install one on a trumpet and a trombone. Steve Lange of the Boston Symphony really liked the Joy Key on his trombone.

So you see, there’s no hard and fast rule, just personal preference. To be clear, we are happy to accommodate the wishes of our customers, be it a lever, Amado, Saturn, Joy Key or whatever style of water key you like.

I hope this is helpful.
_________________
James Becker
Brass Repair Specialist Since 1977
Osmun Music Inc.
77 Powdermill Road Rt.62
Acton, MA 01720
www.osmun.com

Our workshop is as close as your nearest UPS store https://www.ups.com/dropoff?loc=en_US

[Richard III]