Posted by ck on May 14, 2002 at 09:44:23:
In Reply to: Re: Question: piston or rotary valves? posted by tubajake on May 13, 2002 at 21:39:50:
>All I can say is that pistons are faster and easier to maintain than rotors
Well, I have to say that I completely disagree that this is an overall rule.
I had a rotary valved mirafone 188 that had the fastest valves I ever played on. I cleaned them and lubed them maybe once every six months, and that was mainly because I wanted to do it, not that they really needed it. Pistons are easier to take out and oil, but if you know what you're doing, rotors require much less attention.
I recently switched from a piston F to a rotary F and I don't think that one valve is much faster than the other - though I can play more cleanly on my rotary F than I could on my piston F.
>Rotors also have a tendency to be noisier than pistons
I have heard some really noisy pisons as well as some very quiet rotors. If rotors are noisy, it's usually a problem of the linkage being out of alignment or the valves needing oil.
-ck