Question for those with 23(M3) fifth valves

[tubaforce]

Good morning! I tune second space C with my tuner, and then, in a Band, I tune 5th valve to the oboeist's Bb. 4th is tuned for low G and second ledger space D. F tunes with 1st valve, and 1st ledger line E is in tune using 3rd valve! Then I'm ready to go!F# 4 ledger lines below is the only "tricky" note I need to worry about, and because the 2nd valve slide is already too long on my Cerveney, it's not that bad! The main advantage is not having to ride the 1st valve slide, though! I only throttle the horn for sustained lower notes! Al.

[tubaforce]

Hi! I just wanted to add a few things! When I first bought my Cerveney, I had only played on BBb's and Eb's. The best axe I spent any significant amount of time with was a Yamaha 641. I had only returned to the Tuba for 18 months(after a 7-year hiatus), and had never touched a C Tuba with any number of valves! I live an hour and a half north of the Marcincewicz shop, so , after a week with my Helleberg M.P., I drove down to test mouthpieces against each other, checking for best intonation and listening for tone quality. I left with a Self model mouthpiece, and have been happy with it and the Helleberg for 8 years. The point is, that I tried every note against the tuner(and my ear), and arrived at the fingerings that worked best for me! Another thing I've noticed is the tendency of Tuba players not realizing how sharp we tend to play when in the "basement" range! I started to notice the problems while playing String bass. The usually reliable pitch from the Tubas was considerably sharp down low, and the guys weren't noticing it 'till I turned my amp their way! I think most of the time the pitch just doesn't settle in, and with no sustained reference, we just get by. That prompted me to do some serious work with the tuner, and put some real effort into hitting those low pitches.With a Double Bass, as long as your fingers are where they need to be, you're golden! On Tuba, there is much more room for inaccuracy! I was unpleasantly surprised at how out I was!After much experimentation, I arrived at valve combinations that have served me well, giving me the best results!