York/B&M BBb

Repair and modification discussion
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roweenie
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York/B&M BBb

Post by roweenie »

I'm pretty close to finishing up this new project. It's a combination of a "tall bell" Grand Rapids York bugle with a B&M (Yorkmaster) .748 valve set.

The donor (Yorkmaster) horn was unbelievably trashed out (really abused - I can't comprehend doing that to a musical instrument), but the valveset and valve circuits were in comparatively really nice shape, so it became the perfect donor for the transplant. Also, since the bore is practically identical to what was originally there (.002 difference) it was an easy fit.

It came with the 4th valve circuit that protrudes out beyond the rear of the bugle (which I'm not really fond of), and since it was so exposed, it was trashed too and needed to be disassembled - so I decided at that point to re-wrap it in a more "classic" York 712 form.

Image

(The above picture is not the actual donor horn, just an example of how the 4th valve was originally wrapped. I suppose I should have taken some "before" photos, but I'm just not disciplined enough, I guess....)

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(valveset mounted on horn without 4th valve circuit - it needed to be mounted first to determine the routing of the new circuit)

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Image

While I was at it, I also "flipped" and aligned the 1st valve circuit so there would be more pull on the top crook.

As I was rearranging the first valve circuit, I debated arranging it so I could add a 5th valve later on, but I took the lazy way out and just used the same pieces I already had. I suppose I can always change it later, I guess....
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day".
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Tubajug
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by Tubajug »

Beautiful!
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by roweenie »

bloke wrote:You may come to blokeplace™ on a full scholarship...and possibly even receive a generous per diem. :wink: 8)

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https://youtu.be/eKV5HOVi0r4" target="_blank
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roweenie
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by roweenie »

YORK-aholic wrote:
bloke wrote:You may come to blokeplace™ on a full scholarship...and possibly even receive a generous per diem. :wink: 8)
Whoa! High praise indeed, for some very nice work!

I had (still do) a York 702 (3 valve front action) and had a YM but it was in too good a shape for me to scrap, so sold it. Your horn makes me wish I had done otherwise. Very nice.
Yes, thanks for your kind words. I find it very difficult to raid a perfectly good horn in order to use parts on another instrument, too.

That 702 would probably benefit from a nice 4 valve vertical set, like the one found on the York-o-phones. Trouble is, they don't come cheap.....:-(
"Even a broken clock is right twice a day".
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by roweenie »

Ok, so I've got it all together -

Image

Once it was all done, I decided it was a good candidate for a 5th valve (not because of bad intonation, but because it plays so well that it's worth the expense and time required to add one). The valve (top-loader, 22.5mm {.807} bore) arrived yesterday......!!!!

This made it necessary to re-wrap the 1st valve circuit once again (using wider crooks on top and bottom), so I'd have room for the thumb lever to operate between the slide legs. I wanted to have a removable lower crook , so I couldn't make the upper one as long as I wanted, but it's got a respectable amount of pull anyway.

Image
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Tubajug
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by Tubajug »

Great work roweenie! Where is the 5th valve going?
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roweenie
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by roweenie »

Right here:

Image
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by Tabor »

Those buttons and valve caps look very nice. (along with everything else!!!!)

What are they?
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by roweenie »

Buttons - Hirsbrunner

Caps - originals, machined down (thanks Matt!)
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edsel585960
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Re: York/B&M BBb

Post by edsel585960 »

Looks absolutely outstanding Bob!!!!!
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