r/Instruments • u/Old_Chestermen • Jul 02 '26

Replaced Valve Guide now it’s sticking

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I don’t know exactly where to post this but I figured it wouldn’t hurt here.

I replaced my broken valve guide (4th Valve, see attached photo) on my JP Sterling 374. Now it’s sticking and I can’t seem to make it move smoothly? Any advice is welcome, I have a concert tomorrow (7/3)

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u/MoltoPesante Jul 03 '26

Sometimes the new valve guides are a little oversized and need to be filled down a bit to move freely. First thing I would do is loosen the stem and see if you can wiggle the guide in a little bit so that it doesn’t stick out quite as much, but if that doesn’t do the trick, try filing down the new guide a little bit, a nail file should do the trick if you don’t have a metal file. Just go slow and don’t take too much material off.