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I know alot of you guys are ACTUAL repairmen/techs. I am but a mere high schooler. I recently did some repair inventory on the schools sousas and noticed some common problems (valve guides, pads, and stuck caps). I am aware I could just request to have them sent into the shop but... I want to get it done before marching band starts! Any other "home remedies" would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Greg wrote:
Usually repair turnaround will be within a week depending on if parts need to be ordered. Is your director aware that the repairs need to be done? If so, does he or she have the funds to get them repaired?

we just got a refferendum passed here so we have the funds but not really the motivation somtimes. I actually got a Broken Valve stem repaired in less then one day. I am thinking ahead to when marching band starts again and I may have to make "on the field" repairs.

tubatom91 wrote:(valve guides, pads, and stuck caps)

Valve guides require skill. The only time you should replace them yourself (unless you want to play with your own instrument) is when the valve guides are just tacquets between the stem and the top of the valve, ala Yamaha. Those just require unscrewing the stem out of the piston. Other valve guides are mounted in the piston, and have to be cut to fit.

Felts are easy. If you can pull a slide and see the port, then just put pads under the cap and finger button until the valve opening aligns perfectly with the port. Usually you can't see. Shops will use a borescope or will measure carefully the port position in the casing. If you can't figure out the arithmetic of that, then leave it to the repair dude. But what's not easy is having the good selection of felts on hand so that you can use just the right ones. This is so cheaply done by a repair tech it's probably not necessary for you. You can, however, request that spare felts be provided the next time you have the instruments serviced.

Water key corks are another one. You either have to trim to fit or have a good selection on hand to choose from. They are held in place with lacquer glue, but if they fit snug enough and if you are careful, the glue is optional. Oops--you're talking about high-school kids--forget that I mentioned the word "careful".

Stuck valve caps require a small rawhide mallet with a chisel shape on one side. Strike the side of the valve cap with a glancing blow in the unscrew direction. A few relatively light taps will almost always loosen the cap. The right mallet is the F5 small rawhide mallet at Ferree's Tools, unless they have a smaller one I didn't see. Get their catalog when you order the mallet.

Rick "who thinks a small rawhide mallet is useful in any brass player's kit" Denney

Rick Denney wrote:Rick "who thinks a small rawhide mallet is useful in any brass player's kit" Denney

Chuck "who thinks that a big rawhide mallet might go far toward keeping the other players in line" (G)

district is over a million bucks in debt. so...nothing new is really expected, even though as I mentioned we just passed that referendum. a good thought though