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I really need to add some water keys to my piston CC tuba. The locations of the needed keys on the tubing for valves 3 and 4 are obvious. However, my tuba also accumulates water in the first valve slide. Does that happen to anybody else?

Has anybody added water keys to the top slides (the ones you would pull while playing)? I figure they could be located in such a way as to be out of the way when you pull the slides, but you could drain water out by lying the instrument down on your lap.

I end up lying the instrument down on my lap in this manner and pulling the first slide out anyway.

I think I recall Ellis Wean (?) selling a large York that was cut to CC by Bob Rusk that might have had such a setup. I do think that was many years ago. Would any of you picture savers possibly have saved the pictures of those? If so, could you possibly post them?

Thanks,
Christian

I have seen water keys installed on the top slide of a rotary-valve tuba used to release the vacuum when the slide is pulled. That seems to me to be better than drilling the cylinder to vent the valve. (Venting is a lot easier on piston tubas.)

You could use a water key for draining the valve tubing from the top as you suggest, but I think it would be more trouble than it's worth. On the first valve tubing of a front-action piston tuba you would have to rotate the instrument clockwise, tipping the bell to your right and whacking the person sitting next to you.

I find that it's much easier to tip the bell to my left, as I normallly do when counting rests. If I tip it a little farther and depress the first valve the water runs down to the main tuning slide, where it can easily be dumped when I bring the tuba back up to playing position.

Of course you could also put a water key on the lower end of the first valve tubing, but why bother?

Art Hovey wrote: ...
You could use a water key for draining the valve tubing from the top as you suggest, but I think it would be more trouble than it's worth. On the first valve tubing of a front-action piston tuba you would have to rotate the instrument clockwise, tipping the bell to your right and whacking the person sitting next to you.

I find that it's much easier to tip the bell to my left, as I normallly do when counting rests. If I tip it a little farther and depress the first valve the water runs down to the main tuning slide, where it can easily be dumped when I bring the tuba back up to playing position.

....

Thanks Art. I hadn't thought to try that. Typically what I have done is just to put the tuba in my lap, lean it over a little further while pulling out the first valve slide and dumping out the water. I'll have to try that.