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I keep hearing players talk about removing their fifth valves on their horns and how when they have them removed. And that's when I thought about Edwards bass trombones and how they have a different type of valve on them I'm not sure what they are called but let me get to the point. I was wondering if you could take one of those valve types and put it on a tuba as a fifth valve(after making it the proper not size for a tuba). Any thoughts as to whether this would work or not?

BuzzedB wrote:I keep hearing players talk about removing their fifth valves on their horns and how when they have them removed. And that's when I thought about Edwards bass trombones and how they have a different type of valve on them I'm not sure what they are called but let me get to the point. I was wondering if you could take one of those valve types and put it on a tuba as a fifth valve(after making it the proper not size for a tuba). Any thoughts as to whether this would work or not?

First, they're called Thayer valves. Secondly, it has been discussed here about such a project and was generally thought to be a pointless effort for many reasons I cannot remember right now.

Thanks for reminding me of the name couldn't remember it for the life of me. Also if we could find out if it would be better for the horn overall and still give it the openness the horn has without the fifth valve I don't see why not to try it.

There's always dependent valves..... I don't used my 5th without my 4th anyway.

On a related note, can anyone explain why Thayer valves are deemed leaky by some, and how one determines if they're leaky or not?

arpthark wrote:On a related note, can anyone explain why Thayer valves are deemed leaky by some, and how one determines if they're leaky or not?

All valves leak somewhat. Thayers are worse because they have a very large surface area and require a bit more clearance so they won't be slogged down by lubricants.

I was the one who started the thayer valve as a fifth valve discussion. A big thing I took from it was that because the rotating surface is also the sealing surface in thayer valves, they are not well suited to heavy repeated use due to increased tendency to leak. I think that Bloke was the one who brought that too the table (among other good points).