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I wanted to ask about those dent balls which WWBW sells for those big dents on the tuba and sousaphone. Would they only be good for the big dents near the bottom of the tuba and sousaphone or could they be used for any smaller dents as the tubing gets smaller? I'm wondering if the dent ball kit has those smaller balls along with the bigger ones which I've seen on the WWBW site.

I would suggest staying away from dent balls of any sort unless you a) have instrument repair training, in which case you'd buy them from an instrument repair supplier, or b) are apprenticing with an instrument repairman, who will see to it that you have the proper tools.

A King 1240 tuba is old-enough that it might have very soft tubing, except where there has been repeated denting and straightening, which would increase the possibility of cracking the tubing while de-denting it. A Jupiter sousaphone is made of hard, thin, springy brass, which is difficult to de-dent under any circumstances. Restorative metalworking on brasswind instruments should be left to professionals. Home repairs often result in mistakes that make the eventual repair much more costly.

I know a lot about my string bass, and in theory, I could carry out most of the repairs on it. But, since I do not have the shop full of string tools and fixtures, and there is a good luthier nearby that does, and he works on stringed instruments every day, I trust him to work on my bass instead of trying to save a buck. I'll play it, clean it, polish it, and change strings when needed, but that's it.

I tinker incessantly. I feel it's an obligation to be able to repair your own stuff. I can set up electric guitars and basses for better playability and staying in tune than the "pros" can. I design a lot of my own stuff, and my gig tackle box is better known than I am for keeping things going at gigs when something breaks unexpectedly. But even then I'm old enough and have crashed enough to know when to take it to the tech instead.

This is one of those times.

A very good luthier friend has two horn-playing parents. We trade work and I definitely feel that I'm getting the better end of the deal...

I have six of those 1240/2340 Kings in the shop right now and on every one I had to remove the bow guards to do the dentwork.

Dent balls and home-brewed tools won't get you very far on getting the dents out of a bottom bow. In order to do the job right you have to first remove the bow guards.

Lee's right! Whacking around on a horn with primitive tools can results in some nasty cracks!

Beyond all of the other reasons stated as to why an amateur doesn't need to own a dent eraser, a new one won't be available in the foreseeable future.

I wouldn't do this.

A certain poster on this board (not me), attempted this and turned his horn into a "chicken pox" horn.

The horn was dirty inside (even though he took great care of it), and all those balls did was put pimples all over the bow were dirt/grime/filth were to begin with.