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My euphonium's third valve slide moves, but it is really stiff. Also, it seems exceedingly long (7"!). Would cutting it down by a few inches make any difference in sound and would it help it move more freely? The horn is a 30 year old Yamaha 321s and is in otherwise great shape. It was recently cleaned and the slides are all free of build-up.

Any ideas?

So is there a way to loosen it up?

Turns out the problem was that there had been a peppering of dents on the outer tubes and they had been removed "less-than-perfectly," leaving an uneven surface on the inside. Problem is now fixed! Thanks for the help.

bloke wrote:' glad a proper diagnosis was made. I usually try to stay out of these threads. A real chance of misdiagnosis is the reason.

Yeah - otherwise someone might have advised him to "Ask some repair-guy (preferably one who isn't clumsy) to buff on the tubing legs for a minute or two."