TromboneChat

Hi all! I’m about to start on a new project that involves combining a Bach bell with an Edwards valve section.

I’m wondering if anyone of you out there have undertaken a project such as this and, if so, how did you go about it? I’m looking for ideas on how to best execute this particular project and see what options are out there.

Thanks for your help!

I have a bach thats got shires fittings, works great, and i can use either on olsen valve or shires thayer. Is your valve modular or no?

I own several Bach bells modified to fit Edwards valve sections/tuning slides.

You just have to replace the mounting hardware on the Bach bell. It's an easy work for a competent tech.

Elow wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:15 pm I have a bach thats got shires fittings, works great, and i can use either on olsen valve or shires thayer. Is your valve modular or no?

Yeah I have a modular thayer section. My idea was to make the bell modular to fit easily.

pedrombon wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:20 pm I own several Bach bells modified to fit Edwards valve sections/tuning slides.

You just have to replace the mounting hardware on the Bach bell. It's an easy work for a competent tech.

That sounds like the option that’s appealing to me the most as of now. Thanks!

derekcgullett wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:26 pm Yeah I have a modular thayer section. My idea was to make the bell modular to fit easily.

Sounds like an easy job for someone who knows what theyre doing. Do you plan on using the bach on a bach and edwards? You might have to modify the bach to still be able to use it, i think spacing is differently.

Elow wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:35 pm

derekcgullett wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:26 pm Yeah I have a modular thayer section. My idea was to make the bell modular to fit easily.

Sounds like an easy job for someone who knows what theyre doing. Do you plan on using the bach on a bach and edwards? You might have to modify the bach to still be able to use it, i think spacing is differently.

I was planning on using the Bach bell with just the Edwards valve section. The bell’s in great shape but the rest of the Bach isn’t the best.

derekcgullett wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:39 pm
I was planning on using the Bach bell with just the Edwards valve section. The bell’s in great shape but the rest of the Bach isn’t the best.

Sell the rest? My pms or open to buy Then you should have to no problem finding someone who can do this, i did this to my own horn and had no troubles

pedrombon wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:20 pm I own several Bach bells modified to fit Edwards valve sections/tuning slides.

You just have to replace the mounting hardware on the Bach bell. It's an easy work for a competent tech.

Mounting hardware and the tuning slide receiver. The rear bell mount of the getzen/edwards is on the ferrule, so that needs to swap with it.

Is this a tenor or a bass? For my bass, I needed to ever so slightly expand the mating part of the flare to fit nicely into the ferrule, but it was very minor.

Simple swap, the prep and cleanup work will take more time than the mounting.

Cheers,
Andy

elmsandr wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 6:40 pm

pedrombon wrote: ↑Sun Feb 28, 2021 5:20 pm I own several Bach bells modified to fit Edwards valve sections/tuning slides.

You just have to replace the mounting hardware on the Bach bell. It's an easy work for a competent tech.

Mounting hardware and the tuning slide receiver. The rear bell mount of the getzen/edwards is on the ferrule, so that needs to swap with it.

Is this a tenor or a bass? For my bass, I needed to ever so slightly expand the mating part of the flare to fit nicely into the ferrule, but it was very minor.

Simple swap, the prep and cleanup work will take more time than the mounting.

Cheers,
Andy

This project is for a tenor. I agree that the mounting hardware and tuning slide receiver are the two things that need to be changed. I may or may not need to expand the mating part of the flare. We’ll see when we get there. Thanks for the heads up!

Make sure you use a tech that is very competent. It is very easy to put together an instrument in which the parts match/screw together, but there is considerable tension in the horn. The threaded connectors can really create tension if the two mounts are not lined up exactly. The end-to-end connectors should be perfectly measured and soldered precisely so that there is zero play.

Every year, I see boutique horns that were assembled at the factory with not-so-precise connections. Sometimes, the musician comes to me because they realize that the bell plays better when the connecting screws are slightly loose. After making small adjustments to the connectors and eliminating the tension, they find that the instrument plays much better. It is amazing the difference that removing a small amount of tension will do!

My recommendation is not to give up on the Bach parts. Chances are that the Bach parts were assembled with the same problem....tension.