The affect of getting pads right on playing?!

improver · Heavyweight Member Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Posts: 1455

I just changed out the inner pads on a Bach 37 replacing the new rubber ones with old smashed down white cloth ones and it improved the sound and blow considerably. Is this because the valve became more in alignment with the change?

HERMOKIWI · Heavyweight Member Joined: 24 Dec 2008 Posts: 2581

Could be. It could also be that the valves became less aligned and that the new alignment suits your playing better. Valve alignments are not a guarantee that you'll like the horn better.

One thing that should be mentioned, however, is that any minor change that improves the sound and blow considerably indicates that there is some MAJOR problem with how the horn was before. The key word here is "considerably." I wouldn't expect such a minor change to make such a major difference unless the horn was a disaster before the change.
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improver · Heavyweight Member Joined: 14 Mar 2004 Posts: 1455

What it tells me is whoever put the rubber pads in put in the wrong size. I forget but wasnt it Clark Terry who took his horn in to get his springs and pads changed and it changed the playability of the horn.

cheiden · Posted: Thu Jun 24, 2021 2:34 pm Post subject:

My only experience with rubber pads was when Reeves aligned my horns. Just installing rubber pads without regard for the alignment sounds problematic.
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OldSchoolEuph · Heavyweight Member Joined: 07 Apr 2012 Posts: 2440

A considerable change suggests more is going on than just the pads - something else we are not seeing.

The pads themselves effect alignment. Apparently some horns are sensitive to this despite the turbulence of the valves - though Holton used to build trumpets in 8 bores but only 3 or 4 valve port sizes (covering 3 bores in some cases with one port size), so . . . . .

Crushed felt and rubber have different densities and elasticities. This probably influences the connection between the body of the horn and the mass of the piston when up. That would be like the difference in weighted caps.

These are relatively subtle things in both cases though, not "considerable".
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2017 Austin Winds Stage 466
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