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Superdave3
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Joined: 19 Jan 2023
Posts: 2
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 Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:05 pm Post subject: trumpet valve cork replacements |
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| Are the standard widths of trumpet valve corks all 1/16th of an inch? |
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Andy Cooper
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Joined: 15 Nov 2001
Posts: 1568
Location: Terre Haute, IN USA
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| Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2023 1:49 pm Post subject: Re: trumpet valve cork replacements |
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| Superdave3 wrote: | | Are the standard widths of trumpet valve corks all 1/16th of an inch? |
I assume you mean "thickness" . No.
Different thicknesses of cork are sometimes used in combination with felts or synthetic pads to align the valves correctly. There is no universal standard. |
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Superdave3
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Joined: 19 Jan 2023
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| Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:50 am Post subject: standard widths (thickness) of trumpet valve corks |
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| Andy Cooper, thanks for your reply. How do you know when the valves are aligned correctly? My King Trumpet Silver Sonic made by the White company in Ohio in probably the late 50's, has never played the same since it was worked on, and the only thing internally replaced was the valve corks. While the sound is OK, it seems like endurance wise it is harder to play. Any suggestions from anyone? |
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cheiden
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Location: Orange County, CA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 9:46 am Post subject: |
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There are a number of good shops that can align the valves. It's an expense and not every horn needs it. But if that's all that changed your horn from good to bad then it's a fair bet that getting it aligned will return it to its proper playing state.
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JayKosta
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jeirvine
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Location: Baltimore, MD USA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 12:11 pm Post subject: Re: standard widths (thickness) of trumpet valve corks |
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| Superdave3 wrote: | | Andy Cooper, thanks for your reply. How do you know when the valves are aligned correctly? My King Trumpet Silver Sonic made by the White company in Ohio in probably the late 50's, has never played the same since it was worked on, and the only thing internally replaced was the valve corks. While the sound is OK, it seems like endurance wise it is harder to play. Any suggestions from anyone? |
I recently pickup up a 40's King Master cornet, and was surprised how out of alignment the valves were on the down stroke. It had what look like fairly typical thickness pads under the buttons, but needed much thicker ones to get good alignment.
This post has a good summary of DIY alignment using a mirror, though a cheap boroscope is even better: https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=961157#961157
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Riojazz
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Joined: 25 Dec 2006
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Location: Mid-Hudson Valley, NY
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| Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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A very quick test is to pull the second valve slide and see how the holes in the cylinder line up with the holes in the valve.
A more fun test is to use a borescope to check the valves.
Another fun test that is both quick and dirty (literally) is to remove the bottom valve caps, depress a valve gently, stick your finger in the bottom, press down harder on the valve and see if there is much more movement.
Look not only at up and down alignment, but also at sideways (rotational) alignment if you have sloppy valve guides.
Adjusting the vertical alignment if needed requires using pads of varying thicknesses as mentioned, to alter either the downstroke, upstroke, or both. Some believe in using neoprene or similar material for pads, rather than cork or especially felt, so the pad doesn't compress over time, changing the alignment. And getting the felt wet or full of oil changes the thickness, too.
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Kanstul 1525 flugel with French taper, Shires Bb Destino Med & C trumpets, Schilke XA1 cornet, Schagerl rotary, Schilke P5-4 picc, Yamaha soprano sax, Powell flute. Sanborn GR66MS & Touvron-D. |
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Andy Cooper
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Joined: 15 Nov 2001
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Location: Terre Haute, IN USA
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| Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2023 8:06 pm Post subject: Re: standard widths (thickness) of trumpet valve corks |
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| Superdave3 wrote: | | Andy Cooper, thanks for your reply. How do you know when the valves are aligned correctly? My King Trumpet Silver Sonic made by the White company in Ohio in probably the late 50's, has never played the same since it was worked on, and the only thing internally replaced was the valve corks. While the sound is OK, it seems like endurance wise it is harder to play. Any suggestions from anyone? |
What other work did you have done on the trumpet? Just checking to see if you had new finger buttons , top valve caps replaced or receiver etc.
About all you can do DIY (unless you have an alignment mirror or a $10 snake camera from e-bay) is to check the down stroke alignment on the 2nd and 3rd valves. (Pull the slides, use a flashlight.) On later Kings you can also check the 1st valve. On Kings, you can also check the upstroke alignment of the 2nd valve by removing the 3rd slide and 3rd valve and using a flashlight. If it is off - the others are probably off too.
If the valves you see are not aligned properly, take it to another repair tech that advertises valve alignment and ask them to use synthetic pads rather than felt.
Sure, if you are willing to invest in a bit of equipment and an assortment of corks and pads (or learn how to make them) you could do this yourself.
If you just want your trumpet to play better, have a pro do it. |
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