Posted by Ken Herrick on June 30, 2001 at 23:39:41:
In Reply to: a question for 5 valve Eb players posted by Barry Guerrero on June 30, 2001 at 21:47:46:
Verrrrrrrrry Eeeenteresting !!! The instrument you have would be pretty well the same as what John Fletcher made a name for himself with. Fletch was not one whom you would describe as short on finger technique with his 4V Eb and had the whole range very well covered. I have known quite a few players of old Booseys who could rattle around on them better than most eupho players so don't really think they are a great limiter of "technique". You probably have pretty much the type horn which suits you so why not just work with it and keep developing your playing on it, unless you happen to have a lot of dough laying around doing nothing and want more variety in life.
My suggestion would be to take it to one of the top repair techs and have the valves refitted to get them working at top revs and maybe have the lead pipe shifted a bit so it sits comfortably for you. You would probably find that for under a grand you've got yourself just what you really seem to be looking for.