Broken Trigger

[badsanta]

Greetings.
I posted in another topic and will try my luck here. I have a 1965ish Olds Opera with a broken trigger. The trigger is missing. Could anybody steer me to a repair tech that might be able to help me out? The SN is 450917 if that helps. Thank you

[JohnL]

A picture or two might help. You may need to make another post or two before you can attach images.

[badsanta]

Unfortunately it has been in the hands of a repair tech that the local high school band director uses. As of 2 weeks ago I know that he is still looking. It was made by Olds around 1965. It's an Opera with an F attachment. The trigger was broken off years ago. I don't remember what happened. It was 50 years ago. I have a Bach 50. I am trying to play again after 14 years but it's hard to fill that big horn.

[WGWTR180]

Unfortunately it has been in the hands of a repair tech that the local high school band director uses. As of 2 weeks ago I know that he is still looking. It was made by Olds around 1965. It's an Opera with an F attachment. The trigger was broken off years ago. I don't remember what happened. It was 50 years ago. I have a Bach 50. I am trying to play again after 14 years but it's hard to fill that big horn.

Badsanta(good movie LOL) where do you live? Someone who is experienced can just put something new or different on your instrument.

[Posaunus]

It was made by Olds around 1965. It's an Opera with an F attachment. The trigger was broken off years ago. I don't remember what happened. It was 50 years ago.

I believe there were two different Olds trombones labeled "Opera." In the mid-60s what was subsequently marketed as O-25 was engraved Opera (I played one of these in the early 1970s). But Olds later transferred the Opera name to the unique O-23 trombone, which had a different valve and is nickel-silver instead of red brass. This was apparently Olds' competitive response to the Conn 88H.

• O-25: Large-bore Tenor trombone w/closed wrap F-attachment,
  0.554" bore, 0.565" bore F-attachment, single rotor (mechanical linkage), yellow brass (?), 8.5" red brass bell.

• O-23 Opera: Large-bore Tenor trombone w/closed wrap F-attachment,
  0.547" bore, single rotor (different valve), nickel-silver slide and 8.5" nickel-silver thin-gauge bell.

I expect that all the valve components will be different between these instruments.

[JohnL]

I've seen two different linkage configurations on Operas.

My personal O-23 has a string linkage like this one:

Olds-trombone-Opera-F.jpg

I think it's a close copy of a Conn 88-H, so 88-H parts might work.

I've also seen ones like the one on this horn:
https://thebrass-exchange.com/content/o ... attachment
If that's what you have, you may be better off having someone build a new, modern linkage for you. It's different from what Olds used on most of their other horns, so parts might be hard to find.

[badsanta]

JohnL, Bingo. The horn on thebrass-exchange website is the horn. A curved trigger, not an L-shaped bar. Nickle silver. Now if I could only find a trigger. Thanks

[badsanta]

Unfortunately it has been in the hands of a repair tech that the local high school band director uses. As of 2 weeks ago I know that he is still looking. It was made by Olds around 1965. It's an Opera with an F attachment. The trigger was broken off years ago. I don't remember what happened. It was 50 years ago. I have a Bach 50. I am trying to play again after 14 years but it's hard to fill that big horn.

Badsanta(good movie LOL) where do you live? Someone who is experienced can just put something new or different on your instrument.

I live in Nashville. I'm sure there are lots of repair guys. All the ones that I knew have passed away. I was hoping the guy that it was sent to could help, but it's been 3 months, so I'm going to have to get it back from him and look elsewhere. I had kids in the McGavock band. 5 of them. When my stepdaughter was a freshman in 2004, I had about a 2 week growth on my face. Some of the parents were putting stuff in the dumpster one day and a custodian said I looked like Bad Santa. My buddy said he could see it. So, the name stuck. I am notorious.

[brassmedic]

So the whole lever mechanism is gone? That's odd, because you have to unscrew two screws to remove it, so it's like it was removed on purpose.

[tromboneVan]

It looks like the same or similar trigger on a few rare Holton models...not that that helps to source one.
I'd probably agree with JohnL about getting a modern linkage / trigger put on there.

[WGWTR180]

Badsanta(good movie LOL) where do you live? Someone who is experienced can just put something new or different on your instrument.

I live in Nashville. I'm sure there are lots of repair guys. All the ones that I knew have passed away. I was hoping the guy that it was sent to could help, but it's been 3 months, so I'm going to have to get it back from him and look elsewhere. I had kids in the McGavock band. 5 of them. When my stepdaughter was a freshman in 2004, I had about a 2 week growth on my face. Some of the parents were putting stuff in the dumpster one day and a custodian said I looked like Bad Santa. My buddy said he could see it. So, the name stuck. I am notorious.

I have a trombonist friend who lives in Nashville and I'll ask him if he knows anyone who can help you out. As others have suggested unless you get very lucky with an original part from a parts instrument I'd have a modern trigger/linkage made.

GREAT Bad Santa story!!! Sometimes things just stick!

[badsanta]

So the whole lever mechanism is gone? That's odd, because you have to unscrew two screws to remove it, so it's like it was removed on purpose.

The screws and spring are still there. The trigger is broken off and missing. It happened nearly 50 years ago and really don't recall what incident up to it's disappearance.

[JohnL]

Let's see if we can get a clear idea of what is and is not present on bansanta's Opera.

Opera_Valve.jpg

A - Lever
B - Pivot Screw
C - Saddle
D - Spindle Screw
E - Lever/Link Screw
F - Link/Stop Plate Screw
G - Stop Plate
H - Link

So...
Which parts are present?
Which parts are missing?
Are there parts present that are not in the image?

And just so no one suggests using parts from a Recording or an A-20 Ambassador, here are some pics of those linkages:

Recording_Valve.jpg

Ambassador_Valve.jpg

I'm also reasonably certain the lever from an S-20 or S-23 would not work; the valve is set much father back from the tenon.

The lever from an S-22, S-24G, P-22, or P-24G MIGHT work.

[badsanta]

A is broken off and missing. Everything else is as it was. I have messaged my band director friend for the phone number of his repair guy to help him in his search. Now that I have a picture to show him, since there were several versions of the horn. Or, so that I can get the horn back and look elsewhere.

[brassmedic]

A is broken off and missing. Everything else is as it was. I have messaged my band director friend for the phone number of his repair guy to help him in his search. Now that I have a picture to show him, since there were several versions of the horn. Or, so that I can get the horn back and look elsewhere.

Oh, then the solution is easy. Fashion a new thumb paddle and braze it onto the existing lever. Any halfway decent tech could do that. If your tech doesn't want to do it, get your horn back and take it to someone who can.

Edit: Or contact Texas Horn Trader. They seem to always have a lot of vintage parts for sale.