Posted by Guy on February 02, 2001 at 11:50:03:
In Reply to: Re: Re: 5th valve posted by see-er of many many things on February 01, 2001 at 23:42:05:
The 4th valve tube IS (slightly) smaller than on 1-2-3 on most of the Jacobs-model Holtons, as well as the York Mr. Jacobs had them modelled after. BUT the valve bore itself is/was slightly LARGER than 1-2-3 on the Holtons Mr. Jacobs had produced. I think this is where Alex C's anecdote about the organ-sounding Holtons comes from.
I'd like to see one of the old brochures "See-er" mentions, if you read this and wouldn't mind scanning a copy, perhaps you can e-mail?
Oh, and a note for the original posted question : For every person who hates the in-leadpipe 5th valve idea, you can find some who love it (by-the-way it works fine on MY Rusk-cut 5/4 horn - even with the small brace to the bell)
My advice? Get as long an approval period as you can negotiate when buying a heavily-modified horn. Unless you have 2-3 hours a day plus rehearsals and are busy playing 7 days a week it can be challenging to sort out a custom horn quickly. Ideally you need enough familiarity to compare the trade-offs with the horn's strong points. DO consult with your teacher about the purchase, and if you have a couple of week's approval time, schedule two lessons a week while you have the horn to get as much of your teacher's input as you can.
Good luck with the purchase!