Infinity Valve Help

hettbone · by **hettbone** » 2019-01-29 12:35 a.m.

I recently bought a Bach A471 with an infinity valve. Really open horn, great response, and fluid. I picked it out from three others of the same model which was a luxury to be able to do so.

Anyway, when I was trying it out, my only real complaint was how close the trigger was to the slide. It's very uncomfortable and makes the weight focus on my index finger. I was told you could adjust it though so that reassured me and after trying it a bit more and really liking how it played, I ended up buying it.

However, when I brought it home and tried seeing how I could adjust it, I couldn't figure it out. It actually doesn't seem adjustable. There are a couple spots you can unscrew the trigger/linkage but there are holes where they are supposed to go so it seems fixed unless I'm missing something.

I'm really liking the horn otherwise and I got a great deal on it so I'm not planning on returning it. Any ideas on my situation would be appreciated. Thanks!

Kbiggs · by **Kbiggs** » 2019-01-29 11:43 a.m.

Have you contacted Bach (Conn-Selmer) or Instrument Innovations? The might have suggestions.

Neo_Bri · by **Neo_Bri** » 2019-01-29 12:06 p.m.

Maybe they meant it was adjustable with a tech and a torch...

castrubone · by **castrubone** » 2019-01-29 12:37 p.m.

I don't think any Bach trombone has an adjustable thumb trigger. Perhaps it was confused with Conn 88H varieties which all have them. As Neo Bri said, unless you take it to a tech that Infinity valve ain't going anywhere.

Doubler · by **Doubler** » 2019-01-29 2:58 p.m.

[quote="Neo Bri"]Maybe they meant it was adjustable with a tech and a torch...[/quote]

+1 :good:

hettbone · by **hettbone** » 2019-01-29 3:14 p.m.

Gotcha, yeah I figured that it wasn’t really adjustable. Luckily, I have a good trombone tech. Maybe I’ll contact Bach in the meantime. Wonder if the guy was full of BS or he just didn’t know.

brassmedic · by **brassmedic** » 2019-01-29 3:37 p.m.

Sure looks adjustable to me. You mean to say that when you loosen that set screw that's on the lever, there's only one position in which the thumb paddle fits? Why would they bother to engineer that screw in there if it doesn't do anything?

hettbone · by **hettbone** » 2019-01-30 1:36 a.m.

Ok, so it does adjust. I had to tinker with it for a while to figure it out. My problem still persists though.

I discovered that the pieces can slide in and out after you unscrew them. The one closest to the valve seems to adjust the throw and the piece with the thumb rest adjusts where that is.

Problem is, it only goes closer to the slide. It was already as far away as it could be from it. I don’t understand the design at all. It’s too bad cause this horn plays real well but it’s super uncomfortable to hold.

mrdeacon · by **mrdeacon** » 2019-01-30 3:36 a.m.

[quote="hettbone"]Ok, so it does adjust. I had to tinker with it for a while to figure it out. My problem still persists though.

I discovered that the pieces can slide in and out after you unscrew them. The one closest to the valve seems to adjust the throw and the piece with the thumb rest adjusts where that is.

Problem is, it only goes closer to the slide. It was already as far away as it could be from it. I don’t understand the design at all. It’s too bad cause this horn plays real well but it’s super uncomfortable to hold.[/quote]
Maybe a picture of you holding the horn will clear things up.

Do you have small hands? Maybe you need some sort of hand rest. I have had to get most of my horns adjusted by techs to fit my hands.

brassmedic · by **brassmedic** » 2019-01-30 3:21 p.m.

[quote="hettbone"]Problem is, it only goes closer to the slide. It was already as far away as it could be from it. I don’t understand the design at all. It’s too bad cause this horn plays real well but it’s super uncomfortable to hold.[/quote]
Are you saying you want a shorter radius between the hinge and the thumb lever? Looking at the picture, I would think one could simply cut off some of the sleeve to allow it to slide further in towards the hinge.

hettbone · by **hettbone** » 2019-01-31 10:26 p.m.

Here are some pictures of me holding the trombone as requested. You can see that the bar is resting on my hand. I can hold the trombone differently to make a little more room but then it’s hard to hold and shifts the weight on my index finger. Thanks for the replies so far.

hettbone · by **hettbone** » 2019-01-31 10:27 p.m.

Picture 2

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2019-01-31 10:32 p.m.

The point where the linkage attaches to the main bell brace is also adjustable. You can see in the stock photo that it's adjusted all the way the other way, away from the slide. Just move it back and you should get a lot more room.

brassmedic · by **brassmedic** » 2019-02-01 2:11 a.m.

Why do you wrap your index finger around the brace like that? Index finger normally goes here:

Camera angle is weird, but are you maybe wrapping your fingers too far around the cork barrel? Your hand shouldn't be anywhere near the linkage rod; only your thumb should touch the thumb paddle. The slide nut should rest on the fleshy part at the base of your thumb. I'm still not clear on which way you want the lever to go. "Away from the slide" is sort of a vague description.

hyperbolica · by **hyperbolica** » 2019-02-01 10:12 a.m.

It's hard to tell exactly what you are talking about. When you say "too close to the slide", do you mean too close along the axis of the main bell brace, or too close along the axis of the slide? If its the distance measured in the direction of the main bell brace, then you might be able to get a different spring wrapped such that it allows the trigger mechanism to move closer to the bell along the main bell brace by whatever that is, like 3/8" or so. If the problem is along the axis of the slide, then as mentioned already, the mechanism is adjustable, and you can move the whole lever and pivot back toward the tuning slide.

Kbiggs · by **Kbiggs** » 2019-02-01 11:24 a.m.

Are you able to adjust the angle of the spatula/thumb plate? It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the rod that attaches to the spatula looks round. If so, are you able to rotate the spatula on the rod so that it points toward the right (the first yard of the slide), and away from the valve assembly and second yard of the slide on the left?

hettbone · 2019-02-01 1:16 p.m.

[quote="brassmedic"]Why do you wrap your index finger around the brace like that? Index finger normally goes here[/quote]

Well, I’m holding the trombone like that because I have to. That’s kind of the point of this thread. What I mean by too close to the slide is it’s too close on both axis to where my hand rests on the slide. The index finger wrapping around the brace makes a little more room for the thumbrest to move. I normally hold the horn like your picture for the record.

[quote="Kbiggs"]Are you able to adjust the angle of the spatula/thumb plate?[/quote]

The answer is “yes” and I had rotated it farther away. I could move it a little farther but that doesn’t really fix the problem and it is also awkward to be at such an angle.

hettbone · 2019-02-01 1:28 p.m.

Here's some pics of me holding the horn normal. You can see that while doing this, there is no room for the valve linkage to move.

hettbone · by **hettbone** » 2019-02-01 1:30 p.m.

Pic 2

Burgerbob · by **Burgerbob** » 2019-02-01 1:35 p.m.

Adjust this.

hettbone · by **hettbone** » 2019-02-01 1:46 p.m.

YES!! That's it! I had no idea you could adjust that part! Thank you very much, Burgerbob! I adjusted that part just now and it feels much better.

brassmedic · by **brassmedic** » 2019-02-01 3:46 p.m.

Wow, cool. So the whole hinge can move up and down. Pretty clever engineering, actually.

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