Posted by Jim Tyler on November 29, 2000 at 13:51:14:
In Reply to: Lark Euphoniums posted by Andy on November 29, 2000 at 08:26:33:
I purchased a Lark Baritone for my 6 year old grandson to play until he could hold his trombone. I didn't purchase through ebay, but directly from a dealer.
Two of the valves couldn't be removed through the top of the cylinders. The cylinder tops were rounded over. None of the valve caps would thread on without extreme care. The mouthpiece receiver is a tad large for a US mouthpiece which falls out. The instrument played flat on the second line F with the tuning slide all the way in. The valves are anything but smooth and fast.
That said, I tapped on the inside of the cylinders with an aluminum drift to get the pistons out. I used a tapered swage of the proper diameter to swage the tops of the cylinders to the proper size and shape. (This solved the valve cap threading problem) I stoned off the end of an old mouthpiece a tad and it now fits fine. I cut back all four ends of the main tuning slide an eight of an inch and dressed them with a file to bring it into tune. I am using Nanette Kapus' BiNaK oil on the valves to good effect.
For a very small investment in money and time I have a horn a small boy can use until he is large enough for a decent horn of normal size (the baritone is about 3/4 size).
All things considered, I'm happy with my purchase, but if it hadn't been cheap I would have felt robbed. I guess the old saying is still true. You get what you pay for!
Jim Tyler