Posted by Rick Denney on May 13, 2001 at 17:20:51:
In Reply to: Re: (Long) Road Trip Report: Dillon Music posted by John Szkutko on May 11, 2001 at 22:24:47:
The bevel on the main tuning slide had the purpose of smoothing out legato playing, which was a bit slotty on the horn, at least with me playing it. Some valves had a more slotty response than others, with not as smooth an attack or as focused a sound, and beveling the slides on those valves had the purpose of evening their response with the better valves. So, in no case, was the beveling done "just because." It always had a purpose. And it was reversible--two seconds on the sanding machine would square up the tubes again if it didn't work.
It didn't seem to me that Matt had a particular bevel angle in mind. Just guessing from how he held the tool, the angle would have been more like 30 degrees. And, no, he didn't go all the way to the outside edge. At first he just knocked off the corner, and we tried it. Then, if necessary, he'd take a bit more. I haven't studied them under a magnifier to see what's left, but it isn't a sharp edge.
Rick "suspecting that it's done by feel more than anything" Denney