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jsipes wrote:. . . I have acquired a Conn 3/4 3 valve front action Eb tuba, serial number says it was made in 1907 . . . . I'd also really like to get a new valve cluster-4 or 5-and have the finish redone so that it really looks and sounds great (It actually sounds pretty good now). . . .

First thing is to get a tuner and make sure it's the correct pitch. I have a similar Conn/Pan American Eb circa 1901-1921 (3 top piston valves, small bore MP receiver, 16 in. bell, .625 in. bore) that was given to me, and the only work needed was to cut the tuning slide to bring it into modern pitch. I smoothed out the big dents with a magnetic dent ball tool. IMHO, it would not make much sense to put a different valve body on your nice little horn.

HeliconMan wrote:

I smoothed out the big dents with a magnetic dent ball tool.

How good of a job does the dent eraser do?

Caveat. The Dent Eraser is too strong a force for small dings and could quickly damage a good horn by leaving ripples, especially in spacious, flat areas such as bells. However, it is good for rough work smoothing out lightly crushed regions in the bottom bow and smaller tubes.

Nota bene. On the plus side, the Dent Eraser located a plastic bottle of valve oil wedged into the tubing of a horn. When the small ball would not pass, I knew something was caught in there--it just took me three days of intermittent flushing, poking, and sliding weights to get it out.