Any Olds Ambassador euphonium owners?
Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2023 6:56 am
To get right to the point, does anyone here have easy access to an Olds Ambassador euph/baritone horn? The instrument almost every middle and high school owned back in the 60's-70's.
I have a question on the valves. What, if any, is the difference between the 1st and 3rd valve pistons? By any chance are they interchangeable?
Long story short, I picked up one for a friend, a trumpet player, who is getting up there in years and wants to have one to fool around with. I spotted the Olds locally, thought it seemed like a good deal, and offered to go check it out. (He is limiting his driving) There were a few notes that were a bit stuffy and difficult to focus, not too bad, and I thought it was due to the leadpipe being bent. Worth having repaired, IMO.
So, I went to clean it, and was surprised to find that two of the valve pistons are marked "3" and look identical! One was in the 1st valve casing, the other where it belonged. In other words, there are 2 "3" pistons, and no "1"
My past experience with valves has been that if you swap valves, it is totally unplayable. This beast will play, just not as well as it should. Now I am unsure if I have one relatively minor problem (the bent leadpipe) and one major problem.
I knew when I bought it that it was a former school-owned instrument, but my friend and I both agreed it would likely be a better option than a cheap Chinese made baritone.
I have a question on the valves. What, if any, is the difference between the 1st and 3rd valve pistons? By any chance are they interchangeable?
Long story short, I picked up one for a friend, a trumpet player, who is getting up there in years and wants to have one to fool around with. I spotted the Olds locally, thought it seemed like a good deal, and offered to go check it out. (He is limiting his driving) There were a few notes that were a bit stuffy and difficult to focus, not too bad, and I thought it was due to the leadpipe being bent. Worth having repaired, IMO.
So, I went to clean it, and was surprised to find that two of the valve pistons are marked "3" and look identical! One was in the 1st valve casing, the other where it belonged. In other words, there are 2 "3" pistons, and no "1"
My past experience with valves has been that if you swap valves, it is totally unplayable. This beast will play, just not as well as it should. Now I am unsure if I have one relatively minor problem (the bent leadpipe) and one major problem.
I knew when I bought it that it was a former school-owned instrument, but my friend and I both agreed it would likely be a better option than a cheap Chinese made baritone.