TromboneChat

Hello all!

Brought my 1978 Conn 88H to my local tech today to try and figure out why there's a buzz when playing a D above the system in bass clef. He checked the valve, every solder and lubricated everything. That didn't help. He suspects it could have to do with the ring that is located in the edge of the bell flare. Has anyone encountered this? And if so do you have any suggestions on how to fix this? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

My 68 has a resonance at F#, not the same as a buzz. If it really bugs you, see if you can put a couple wraps of duct tape around the bell throat. Or an athletic wrist wrap might also do it. Or if you grab the bell just forward of the main brace and it stops, it's probably just a resonance. These bother some people more than others. The resonance on my horn doesn't really bother me, it's just part of the feedback.

But if it's a buzz from something loose, then yeah, you gotta fix that. Ive never had the bell rim buzz. Loose screws in the valve, unlubed valves, bits of solder inside a brace, unsoldered braces or gussets are the typical culprits, but your tech knows that and more.

Thanks for your response. Definitely a buzz in this case. The tech heated every solder up to see if it popped into place or anything slightly loose would either fall off or melt back in. His conclusion that it might be the bell. I don't know if there's anything to be done if that's the case.

It is quite possible that there's a bubble in the rim where it didn't get fully soldered.
Unfortunately, that would be tough to find & repair!
Have your tech check that the stop arm is tight on the rotor spindle, not just the screw bring tight.
I've had loose stop arms buzz if they don't fit snug on the stem!!
Also check the lever screw barrel under the spring, the lever could be loose on the screw and between the bridge posts!

A Conn bell rim from 1978 would not be soldered.

Getzen have a rolling tool for sinching down buzzing bell rims. It is not a commercially available tool though, but one could be made.

Thank you guys for your wise inputs! I will pass this on to my tech.

I've got an 88H from the same era with the same buzz on the same note. It's not so terrible that I can't live with it, but it is mildly annoying. If you do manage to find a definitive cause, make sure you share it

I had a 1971 3B with sterling bell that buzzed on F# above the staff. Drove me nuts. It was a piece of silver solder trapped in the bell brace. I took it to the King factory when I decided to switch to a thin brass bell/no rim wire/no solder. I told them about it so they replaced the curved bell brace at the same time. Problem solved.