Hi im having issues with my 1969 n series elkhart conn 8d
It isnt playing open even though i just got the valves rebuilt this year im a junior in high school it doesnt have a pop atriculation the horn should have i have bad sensitivity issues so it could be me but i play the school holton 179 and it popped the articulation the way i think my horn should sound so any help or suggestions would be great thanks

First get an experienced player (Teacher or professional) to try it. If there are problems take it back to the people who repaired it - if it's not right they should correct it free of charge if they did the work recently. Good luck.

has anyone else ever had random times that the horn doesn't work?

mine was working yesterday when i pushed it, and it worked today when i locked the car...but when i got home and hit the lock button twice there was no beep. so i got back in and hit the horn and nothing....i can hear the relay clicking, but the horn doesn't "engage". i let the car sit for 5 hours, and now it works. weird????

Sorry - I'm not able to help with this sort of horn. Although I once repaired an antique bulb horn.

Ian

I study with a pro teacher and i know he and everyone else says i have a great horn so im thinking maybe a different or smaller horn would be better for me ?

Take advice from your tutor - he/she will know the way you play & be able to offer advice. It is impossible to give advice on a forum - your difficulty could be related to breathing, embouchure, mouthpiece or a partial blockage in the horn. Different instruments have varying chaacteristics - some are freer blowing than others due to bore design.

Conn 8D's are need a lot of air. I was truly surprised by a friends Hoyer compensating horn. Very free blowing. I think I've mentioned my Paxman 25AY. Huge horn. Lots of air volume, huge bore, huge throat, and air moves through it just great. Responds much better than any 8D I've ever played. The medium throat has very low air demands. You might even try a 20M. Interestingly, my first teacher had a pre WWI Kruspe which the 8D was based on. It was such a radically different animal than the 8D, and I don't really know why. Try everything you can lay your hands on. Lots of great used stuff out there.