Posted by Mark F. on November 11, 2001 at 19:10:07:
In Reply to: Valve Action on Piggy posted by Scotty on November 11, 2001 at 18:32:16:
there is no reason for the action on a piggy to any better or worse than a miraphone, but here are a couple of things to looks for to make sure your valves are working as good as they should. In case you do not know, I use a piggy as my only horn, and i love the action on my horn.
1. Make sure the bumpers are not to soft or worn out, as that can lengthen the valve stroke considerably.
2. Without the stop arm on the top of the valve, does the valve spin freely? It should spin like a top if it is in good condition.
3. cerveny has traditionally sorry linkage. you might try replacing it (an easy and cheap fix) and that will take a lot of the slop out of the action. it won't shorten the stroke, but it will take all of the dead action and noise out of the moving parts.
4. If the valves make a hard metallic clunk, then the bearings are probably worn and need to be swedged. Not a hard job, but for pro repairmen only. you could also try wrapping your rotor posts with teflon tape, just a little, at that can make your valves quieter.
I have a picture of my linkage of web site
Contact me for for detailed help, and good luck. I'm glad you like your piggy. I too think it's cool that I can put it in the back seat of my car across the seat, and my son can sit next to it. Try that with many other tubas. I also love the sound, but more so after I did many alterations to it.