will92 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 The other day, I gave my Baritone a bath, gave it a really good clean. But now it seems to have an airy sound to it?? Like somethings not right?? Wondered if anyone could help me with this... Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 The other day, I gave my Baritone a bath, gave it a really good clean.But now it seems to have an airy sound to it?? Like somethings not right?? Wondered if anyone could help me with this... Cheers. maybe the reed's not wet enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 (edited) OK, got that out of my system. There's some good horn techs on here. I'm sure one will chime in. In the meantime, if you took the horn apart, did you check to make sure the valves are all seated correctly and in the proper cylinders? Are the corks still in the sockets or if you have Amado keys are they stuck open? Robbie had her horn professionally ruined, er, I mean cleaned...if these things happen in threes, like other disasters, I'll wait until someone else complains about horn problems after cleaning before I do anything to mine. Edited July 19, 2009 by Martybucs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBurnell Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Airy sound usually means you've got a leak somewhere. I'd check all spit valves first. Make sure you didn't lose any cork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Sounds like you've got a leak. Check the spit valves. Maybe the adhesive got disolved in the water and the pads floated away. Or the pads disolved in the water. (stranger things have happened) Normally you need to completely replace these once every three years. I don't get out much, so I just put a sliver of bicycle inner tube between the pad and the horn to make a good seal. If something like that (syran wrap?) makes a difference, there's your problem. Of course there's other sources for leaks. Broken welds, clearances between tubes / valves, missing tubes / valves. And other sources. Is your mouthpiece fully seated? Are the valves in alignment? Various felts and corks and such with some of those parts that don't take well to prolonged submersion. I generally take the perishables off the horn before submersion. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeme70 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Had a similar problem with (ughh...gonna admit to this) my sousaphone in college...turned out that the spacer cork on top of the piston ended up being squished, so the opening in the tubing didn't line up with the openings in the valve - kinda like half-valving on the horn. Added the proper sized cork back in, and it was fine. Try whatever you were doing to make it sound airy, then push each valve down slightly one by one - if it goes away, then that's probably it. The water keys are a good place to look as well - the pivot screw on my horns tend to work their way out every once and a while and the key, while still in place, gets misaligned off the hole. Screw it back in and that should be it for that problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiniSopGuy Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 The first thought I had was the water key. Like everyone else has said, check that first. If it still has an "airy" sound, take a look into the valves. Dis you possibly get a little too aggressive cleaning the passages in a valve and put a hole in it? Sounds strange, but I have seen it happen. The air then passes through the valve down to the vent hole. Gets an "airy" sound out of the bottom of the valve casing and through the bell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 Also check that the cork hasn't moved and is no longer tightly against the spit key hole. Had one that looked good but was kinda at an angle and the seal wasn't tight. Real problem for me is the screw on the key gets loose and have to retighten by hand every few months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmaustin Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 The other day, I gave my Baritone a bath, gave it a really good clean.But now it seems to have an airy sound to it?? Like somethings not right?? Wondered if anyone could help me with this... Cheers. I've found that baths (for musical instruments) are usually more harmful than helpful. You don't mention if this is a horn with a lot of miles on it or if it is relatively new as this would help narrow down the source of your air leak(s). If it is in fact a horn that is "experienced" I'd suggest that first you eliminate the obvious suspects - corks, broken joints, etc. That leaves only two remaining sources of air leaks - both fairly common with older horns. Over time, wear and tear have likely increased the gap between your valve pistons and the cylinders. Suggest that you try a thicker viscosity valve oil than you might typically use for a newer horn. I'm not here to hump the Hetman brand, but I've had a lot of success with their products over the years and they have developed a thicker grade of valve oil specifically for this problem. It's called Hetman "Classic Piston" lubricant #3. The other remaining source of your air leaks could be due to gaps associated with your tuning slides. For a quick test on this, temporarily enough apply Vaseline to each of the slides to form an airtight seal. For a more permanent solution, I use Hetman Heavy Slide lubricant #6 which holds up much better than Vaseline and is less messy. Good luck and I'd be interested in hearing what you found out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
korsakovisjesus3 Posted August 4, 2009 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I've found that baths (for musical instruments) are usually more harmful than helpful. I very very much disagree with this, unless you play horn. They're only harmful if you're not familiar with washing and maintaining an instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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