Josh, Thanks for the reply. I won't discredit the misfortune of others, but I will report that I have not had any gross valves problems with my run-of-the-mill Holtons since I started playing them in 1979.
In the last two years I've purchased two new Merkers and a used one. Overall fit and finish on the new ones was impeccable. After a year of using it, I had the #2 bearing plate 'adjusted' on the first horn in a "preventative" measure. I thought I could feel an ever-so-slight vertical motion. (Paranoia? Perhaps.) It probably took no more than a gentle tap on the bearing with a leather mallet to rectify. During its refurbishment for its intended resale, I had the valves "serviced" on the used Merker that I bought, but there where no obvious shortcoming with them. The other new Merker I just bought has no out-of-the-box problems whatsoever. Before these Merkers, I had a H281 for over 9 years and two H177s for 12 years before that. The only problems I had with the valves on those Farkas models were symptoms of slight leaking after about a decade of amateur use on each, and I attribute that malady to my lax lubrication habits back then. I'm much more faithful about oiling now. Russ Smiley Marlborough, CT -----Original Message----- From: Joshua Cheuvront [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 9:25 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: [Hornlist] Horns for Middle School Well, as I remember, one of the Merker owners had a great deal of trouble with the valves. They took it to a brass specialist and was told that two of the valves had been lapped improperly and would possibly need rebuilt. The other person I knew was never very specific about the problems with his horn. I just remember him complaining quite often about his valves. ----Original Message Follows---- From: arsmiley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: The Horn List <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: 'The Horn List' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [Hornlist] Horns for Middle School Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 10:58:28 -0500 Josh, You wrote "I've only personally known two people who play on merker-matics, and both have a deep resentment and are very bitter about them." As a Merker owner I'm curious to know the circumstances that created this dissatisfaction. Russ Smiley West Hartford Symphony Orchestra Marlborough, CT _________________________________________________________________ MSN Toolbar provides one-click access to Hotmail from any Web page - FREE download! http://clk.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200413ave/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/arsmiley%40usadatanet.net _______________________________________________ post: [EMAIL PROTECTED] set your options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
