MTFCA Forum

I have a brass horn that sounds good when a modest flow of air is blown though the tube, but doesn't work when I fit the bulb to it. Gently squeezing the bulb allows it to work somewhat, but with a rapid squeeze, the reed acts like a check valve rather than vibrating. Does anyone have any advice on how this can be fixed?

Sounds like a bad reed. Try a different reed or put a small washer with a appropriately sized hole between squeeze bulb and the reed housing to limit air flow.

I face up that issue before and after several trials a gave up and bought brand new one at Lang's. It work awesome now!

Too much air will cause the reed to choke. You can overcome this by fitting a piece of tubing (rubber or plastic will do fine) inside the bulb's brass sleeve that reduces the amount of air to the reed. If you have the original type setup on a late '12-'14 style horn, just be sure that your new "bulb choke" doesn't touch the reed but stays above it.

I’ve never met a reed I couldn’t massage to work. When you find a good working one, take a good look at it. Install that picture in your memory brain. With some careful massaging, you can likely get it bent back into the right shape and distance from the lip.

A reed is an adjusted setting...the fact that this one will sound under a specific condition, tells me this one is fixable. Not sure whether you have the repro or original reed...there are construction and setup differences. The new reeds are soldered to assemble...too much bending of the flat half can cause this light solder to fracture, meaning now very difficult to hold a tuning. Be sure the (2) halves of the reed are flat and parallel with each other. If the flat half is bowed, more difficult to get a consistent tone. Gap at the open end should be approximately 1/32". Hope this helps.
Scott

I had a similar issue with my '11s horn. Turned out the cable was leaking air. So check yours. A new one on mine and a 200% difference!

These suggestions are encouraging. The reed is original but the tube is a repro that might not be the best. Its windings are coarser than others I have seen and it isn't lined, so I am sure it leaks. I'll do some experimenting and report back.

Hello Marc: Not the expert here but I doubt early horn hoses are not air tight. I have a number of them, all ooze air and none have any sort of liner. Original reeds do not have OD threads...they are tapered for fit. Repro reeds date back to the 1950's. so "original" means what it means?
Regards,
Scott

You're right. I can be sure the reed is old, but it being "original" is really a guess.