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Hello, I own a fantastic RM 5/4 CC (red brass). The pitch and sound of this instrument is wonderful. However, some of the 4th valve notes, notably low G, Gb and F, do not centre as much as I would like. I sense that the size of this tuba is part of the issue. I have learned to play these notes. A gentleman named Roger Lewis described a technique to me which involves taking a narrow tube, cut lengthwise, and inserting it into the fourth slide to stabilize the low end. Well, he explained it to me - twice - but it still went over my head. No equipment geeks please, just real information. Thank you.

Ferguson is the KING of this type of mod...

You locate and cut (sand, file, etc) slide tubing that fits inside the tuning slide for your 4th valve slide. This steps the bore down a little bit and adds more resistance.

Bloke said: "So far, I have not heard of anyone bending smaller-bore aftermarket mouthpipes for these instruments."

I spoke with the wonderful Ellis Wean years ago.
He played with Montreal for many of their finest recordings (IMO) and played a Rudy 5/4 with a smaller leadpipe on it.
Said it was a critical modification (which I'd believe).
If I owned a Rudy 5/4 I'd try it for sure.

That plus a reversed slide tube coming out of the valve section might make these horns a LOT more manageable.

A friend who plays one of these recently had his leadpipe soldered down to the bell rather than floating freely, and he claimed that this made a big difference. My Rudy 3/4 has this configuration, and it plays great (but now we are talking apples and oranges).

YMMV...

Interesting mention of a smaller after market leadpipe installed as I have been asking myself the same question for my Alex. It is my understanding that it was common back in the day, when playing Alexs was more common, people put Miraphone leadpipes on them. I personally know that Mike Thorntons Alex had a smaller leadpipe on it, or at least the receiver had been made smaller. Dave Kirk's 4 valve Alex (which he made it to Finals in Chicago on) had a Miraphone Kaiser BBb leadpipe put on it.

Maybe some Alex owners past and present can chime in on what they did.

I personally have a late 60s Alex that had a newer Alex leadpipe put on it by the previous owner. The previous owner decided to keep the original receiver and just had the new leadpipe go straight throught the receiver to make the mouthpiece end smaller. It still was too big for a Euro shank mouthpiece to fit properly, so I cut up an old tupperware container and made a sleeve out of it. The sleeve fits in a good 4"-5" and definitely helps the Alex blow better.

I also noticed when playing Thorntons and Kirks Alex that they are not as "woody"/Alex sounding as mine, with the more original leadpipe. I also thought Thorntons played the easiest.

Maybe this is material for a new thread?

Some nicer Thors that I've played have incredibly responsive 4th valve low notes. These Thors almost felt like I was playing a trick tuba on the low part of the Ride. Does the Thor have something like this smaller bore 4th valve standard?

Once I saw someone inserting an adjustable by overlap, thin, clear plastic sleeve into their 4th slide. Apparently it is available for purchase. Don't know who sells it.