TromboneChat

I'm having enough left arm aches that I put the 42B away and dug out my small bore for last night's rehearsal.

It's a .500 Getzen, came with slide and valves. I bought it here but don't remember from whom.

And............it has an Amado spit valve. I went nuts last night trying to empty it during pieces. My 42B doesn't fill up anywhere near as fast, but also that spit valve really dumps. The Amado did not.

I vaguely remember it may be possible to drill it out? Is that a DIY job, or best left to the pros?

Have one on my Holton 180 bass, and Bach42 and Bach 16. As you can imagine the bass is a mega condenser of water. Every so often flow goes down and I need to flush and lube them (can of computer duster air, and rotor oil, sometimes a blast with WD40). They can be taken apart and cleaned. SEShires has a valve and Amado clean and lube YouTube video that gives details.

As you noted, a real pain if it plugs in the middle of a performance as you have to pull and dump the slide. But when it's working I can flood the floor in an instant. I really like that in an emergency you can open it for a quick dump while you are holding a note (first position anyway) and not really get a big tone change. I give them a weekly maintenance trying to avoid awkward moments.

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Drilling a larger hole in an Amado won't do any good unless you also machine a wider & deeper drainage channel in the piston. It's a tricky little bit of machining, but it does improve drainage. I did it on both of my small bores and it works much better.

That machining is beyond my skills.

I did take it apart. That circlip is tiny and fragile. Yeah, the channel was a little gunky, I used a mouthpiece brush on the big hole and pipe cleaner on the little. We'll see at rehearsal tomorrow if it helped.

My routine for Amado valves is a couple of drops of valve oil before I play and a couple of drops when I return the instrument to the case. Draining condensation will rinse the lubrication off, encouraging corrosion. To reduce or eliminate the formation of crud in the first place, floss and brush your teeth before playing. This keeps pizza and unidentifiable green things from growing inside your horn and drastically reduces the need to clean the inside as well. The additional bonus is that your dental bills will be kept at a minimum, freeing up $$$ to spend on N+1, mouthpieces, accessories, music, and, yes... lessons!

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Well, my maintenance did make a huge difference. Apparently there was enough crud in that groove (I used a toothbrush on it) to slow down emptying. Also, on my 42B pressing the valve drains the water without blowing, but the Amado requires a little breath. I didn't know that.