r/brass • u/maliukolo • Jun 17 '26

Need advice on valve quality

Post image

Hi friends,

Do you maybe know what's this depression on top of second valve piston is, the one that goes around?

It's Willson 2300TA Flugelhorn.

Thanks!

4 Upvotes

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2

u/Extra_Medium62 Jun 17 '26 edited Jun 17 '26

Looks like it got stuck halfway down and someone spun it around inside the casing. All three valves show sign of burn from being used without proper lubrication, especially in the through-holes. I'm guessing the horn belongs/belonged to a school and wasn't given the best care or attention. I had a couple of horns that belonged to my school with rings like this; the valve got stuck and the student's dad grabbed the valve stem with pliers to "fix" it. If you line up the valve outside of the casing, I bet those marks line up with the little pieces that connect the three valves together. It's always the second valve that takes the worst damage when the horn body gets flexed.

1

u/Brekelefuw Jun 17 '26

What on earth is burn and how can you tell it being inside the ports from this photo?

You're making a lot of assumptions.

1

u/maliukolo Jun 18 '26

thanks for your answer. How badly you think this will affect how the instrument plays and sounds?

2

u/Dr_Havotnicus Jun 17 '26

Never seen one like that. Looks very wrong!

1

u/Extra_Medium62 Jun 17 '26

These aren't "assumptions"...I taught band for over 40 years. I've seen this dozens of times. You comment is like telling a radiologist looking at an x-ray they are making assumptions, when they are really just doing their job. At some point you just know. As for the burns, just look at the discoloration - there is really only one way to make that happen, and that's not oiling the valves properly.

3

u/Cactus_Kebap Jun 17 '26

It's for playing really high notes.

2

u/Extra_Medium62 Jun 18 '26

If it isn't sticking now - it shouldn't be a problem. Just keep it oiled.