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Hey does anyone here know what the factory standard is for this particular horn? (Whether it cork/felt or both, and if they are all the same sizes on each valve)

Reason I'm asking, I remember when I first got my horn, there was NOTHING on the fourth valve (stem)....i called and they sent me a (cork?). I went overseas and I remember the corks or felts being switched around for experimentation. Now I have NO idea where my valve alignment is at, and I have plenty of corks/felts that have been played around yet. Right now each valve has a Thick cork and a thin cork on top of it in place. Took it to the music shop here, the trumpet player/ "tech" was an arrogant idiot, had no idea there was a difference.I dont have time to take it into the yamaha dealer (2 hrs away) before my audition, and I"d like to have the best alignment possible of course........Also dont have a dental mirror / cant find one so I can't check. I just know SOMETHING in this bag of mine works the best.


Thanks,

Kevin

That is unfortunate that you had a poor experience. Valve alignment is critical. If you can, take your horn to another shop and see if you can get some better help. While a yamaha dealer could be a good thing, you don't need your shop to be a yamaha dealer for a proper valve alignment.

Good luck!

Yes, valve port alignment is not rocket science. Any *good* repair shop should be able to do this at a reasonable cost.

The Bloke washer set is a good suggestion. I know that Joe has put together sets for the Yamaha 642 and I suspect the dimensions are the same for the 842—but not positive. I asked Joe last month if this same set will fit my horn (YEP-641), but haven't heard back yet.

I know you said you don't have a dental mirror, but you could pull out your 1st valve comp-slide and check the first valve's down stroke. If it's off (goes too low), that means the felt under the finger button is worn. That's the one I check to see if I need to have my ports aligned. It's usually the first one to show miss-alignment since the first valve gets used the most.

Rick F wrote:
I know you said you don't have a dental mirror, but you could pull out your 1st valve comp-slide and check the first valve's down stroke. If it's off (goes too low), that means the felt under the finger button is worn. That's the one I check to see if I need to have my ports aligned. It's usually the first one to show miss-alignment since the first valve gets used the most.

When I pull the Main tuning slide, I can also see the 4th valve port.....Im going to assume this isn't helpful because its the main tuning slide - side and not the compensating port?? If it does matter........the port goes at least 2-3 mm too low on the 4th valve.

Thanks again to bloke for the input. I'll try and get as close as I can to 4 mm on top of the piston (im thinking it would be thicker). Im also assuming the 3.5 mm under the cap includes the felt and the styrofoam washer. I measured and it looks like I have 4 mm felts on the pison.... 2.5 mm felts under the caps, with a 1 mm washer . Just a couple need to be replaced. I"ll survive through this audition...hopefully I can get the problem rectified shortly after. Maybe a 2 hr drive is in order for my horn and I. Oh well. Thanks again

Kevin wrote, "When I pull the Main tuning slide, I can also see the 4th valve port.....Im going to assume this isn't helpful because its the main tuning slide - side and not the compensating port?? If it does matter........the port goes at least 2-3 mm too low on the 4th valve."

Well it does matter. All sound goes through the 4th valve. If the travel of your 4th valve goes too far, that means the felt under the finger button is worn or compressed. You can fix that yourself by just adding about 2mm of cork or nylon (neoprene) washer under the button. Might help intonation (or tone) a bit when your 4th valve is down.

So I got my problem solved!!!! My friends mother just so happens to be a dental assistant..so she hooked me up with a mirror. After some real contortionist work with the mirror, a flashlight, and my face, I got my valves aligned. The top buttons were all fine, but the upstrokes were too far. I added about a 2mm cork to each piston and it lined them up. (My felts were replaced in the middle of May. They either have been worn out already!...or these measurements strangely disagree with bloke's numbers....hmmmm )

The only weird part was the fourth valve. the only way I could line things up the best was to SWITCH the felt under the cap with the one on top the piston....whilst removing the foam portion under the cap to accommodate the thick one from the piston . ( I had quite a few, but still limited felts/corks to play with). Is the 4th valve supposed to have a different settlement?? It is a shorter valve, but it had by far the biggest correction to make. It was difficult because there is a slight bend at the ends of the 4th valve tubing, but I am confident its within 0.5mm. Either way I'm happy....I would just like to get this the right way next time I have my felts replaced. Thanks again!


Kev

XtremeEuph wrote: So I got my problem solved!!!!
<Snip>
Is the 4th valve supposed to have a different settlement?? It is a shorter valve, but it had by far the biggest correction to make. It was difficult because there is a slight bend at the ends of the 4th valve tubing, <Snip>Kev

Good to hear you got it worked out. Not sure what you mean by, "Is the 4th valve supposed to have a different settlement?" The 4th valve may need different sized felts or corks but I'm not sure. The length of the valve has no effect on what felts or corks you need.

Yeah that's all I meant is it looks like the felts for the fourth valve need to be different from the rest. Don't mind my jibberish.