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I tried that, but it made me crabby.

I took mine out. In fact, when it was saturated, it slowed down my valves by creating suction. So, I just got rid of it altogether and simply dump the water out occasionally.

Yamaha makes inserts for their grime gutter - but they're a bit expensive as I recall. When they absorb moisture, they don't swell up. This way they don't close off the air vents on the bottom of your valve casings.

If you're insterested, email or PM me and I'll try to find the part number.

I honestly dont know why they make these anyway. Dumping out the water is quite easy.

To me, the idea of a combination of oil, condensed lung moisture, spit, and that morning's breakfast being absorbed by a pad and sitting there festering all day kinda grosses me out... I'd rather dump it onto my carpet

Besson grime gutters don't come with inserts, you dump them like a tuning slide. Works fine.

euphgal,

I found the P/N for those inserts. It's "YAC-1672P". You'll have to order them from an authorized Yamaha dealer. Sorry but I don't remember how much a package of these inserts costs. There are 8 inserts in a package.

Hope this helps.

The moisture catcher on the bottom of my Willson2900s is loose and doesn't lock on like the 4th valve does. It vibrates when I play... Thoughts?

I drape a pretty yellow towel over the bottom bow of my tuba when we play a place with a nice carpet or floor.
I got the idea from Louie Armstrong.

Troiano220 wrote:The moisture catcher on the bottom of my Willson2900s is loose and doesn't lock on like the 4th valve does. It vibrates when I play... Thoughts?

You could try adding a spacer between the 'drool drainer' and the valve caps. Maybe a wrap or two of electrical tape? Or... just scotch tape so it wouldn't be invisible.

Troiano220 wrote:The moisture catcher on the bottom of my Willson2900s is loose and doesn't lock on like the 4th valve does. It vibrates when I play... Thoughts?

Go to Lowes or a medical supply store and pick up about 1' of surgical tubing and cut spacers that slip over the nipples and sit between the bottom valve cap and the grime gutter. One foot of that stuff will be more than enough to last you a lifetime.

Cut them a bit long so you have to compress them to slip the grime gutter on. That'll provide just enough pressure on the grime gutter to keep it from rattling around.

euphgal wrote:Does anyone know where I would be able to buy the inserts for the Yamaha Grime Gutter? Thanks!

Go to WallyWorld or an auto parts store and pick up a synthetic chamois and cut it into strips to fit your grime gutter. You can find something around 15x25" for $4-5 if you shop around.

Those suckers will hold a lot of moisture and don't swell up appreciably when wet, and they last a long time. You can wash it out when it start to smell or just pitch them and replace it with a new strip.

You can get a 15x25 chamois for $4-5 if you shop around. You'll burn through a heckuva lot of $$$ and Yammy inserts before you reach the end of that chamois.

It turns out that the tube was warped and out of round. Since it was a brand new horn, I was able to get a replacement part from Getzen. After talking to a few Willson players, I was told that this was common. The tube often gets warped and won't fit on the bottom of the horn. Just thought I'd post the outcome. Thanks for the advice guys