Piston Valve Spring Tension


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Posted by Todd Morgan on February 11, 2004 at 00:14:26:

Tonight, during a lull in our rehearsal, I got into a brief conversation regarding piston valve response. I used to own a Meinl Weston 2165 (big valves) that I liked, but I hated the valves. I have small hands. The spread between the valves was brutal. In addition, the valves seemed "heavy" (for lack of a better term). I tried different springs, but no matter what I either had very tight and quick valves (at the cost of high resistance) or slow soft valves (at the cost of speed and precision) that would bounce on the rebound.

I currently play a Conn 56J and I love it! The valve set is the perfect size for my hands. After our brief conversation this evening I looked at my valves and noticed that they seem to bounce a little on the rebound. I really hadn't noticed before today. The valves "just worked." In any event, when I came to another lull in the rehearsal, I took out each of my valves (one by one) and stretched the springs about 1/4" to 1/2" longer. I put the springs and valves back and played the rest of the rehearsal.

This was my experience. I found that my running passages were considerably cleaner. In one piece in particular it always seemed (in the past) like my fingers were moving fast enough, but I sounded a little muddier than I should have. After stretching the springs, that same passage seemed considerably cleaner. My tuba professor in college, David Unland, told me once that he liked his piston valves with a high amount of spring tension for precision and cleanliness.

Has anyone else here experienced this phenomenon?

-Todd Morgan


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