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I have a King 1250 from about 1950, and after about an hour of playing Dixieland the water really builds up in the first bend after the valves. I have to roll the horn a couple times to get the water out! Has anyone added a water key in that area? Thanks.

IMHO the real question is do you have access to a tech that you'd trust doing the work? If so I'd do it

I have a 1959 example of that horn and it has a spit valve there, so you are not alone with this issue. I doubt the spit valve was added since the horn came from state surplus. The spit valve still requires me to slosh the horn around a bit to get the water out.

I put a joykey on my tuba because the previous owner had removed the spit valve, and I was very happy with the results. It does drip right below it all the time though, so you'd have to deal with that.

Welcome to the wonderful world of King sousys and tubas water issues. Yes, at one point, we have all had to master the "King Spin" to empty water, especially on institutional instruments that we could not add another water key. Yes, an additional water key may be necessary, especially if you can fit it in.