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After reading Davidrn1's question about adding a 5th valve to a King 2341 he got me thinking..... Has anyone taken the 5th valve off of their horn? I ask because I own a Conn 52J that I love, but for some gigs (quintet especially) it would be nice to have alighter horn to work with. the 5th valve is detachable, but I do not know how much it would cost to fabricate a piece to go where the 5th valve does to make it into just a 4valver. I know most would think I am wacky for wanting this, but I really do find that the 5th valve just adds weight to certain playing sitatuins...especially when standing that it might be nice to try it, if it can be done at a reasonable cost. Any opinions/quotes from our repair experts on the board would be most appreciated.

Not a bad idea:

All of Chuck Daellenbach's CC tubas as of late (the last +-10 years) have been 4 valvers. He felt the 5th was not necessary and asked that his horns be built without them. I suspect that part of the reason had to do with the amount of standing/dancing they do on stage as well.

I think that you could probably have a piece made, but getting the taper right and making it look nice and be removable would probably not be cheap.

JayW wrote:Has anyone taken the 5th valve off of their horn?

Since this would almost certainly diminish the value of your instrument, wouldn't it make more sense to shop around for a lighter tuba which plays the way you want it to?

TubaRay wrote:

JayW wrote:Has anyone taken the 5th valve off of their horn?

Since this would almost certainly diminish the value of your instrument, wouldn't it make more sense to shop around for a lighter tuba which plays the way you want it to?

The valve on a Conn 52/56 is easily removable. Having an interchangable "straight pipe" would enhance the value of a 52J. The 5th-valve is held in place by two allen-head screws and a retaining nut like the one used on a trombone hand-slide.

This modification might even improve the way the 52 plays, as the tubing that connects the valve is smaller than the bore where the valve is located. (A quick step down through the valve, then back to the larger bore--a choke point. The designers saved some money by fitting an existing rotary valve on their new horn.)

Looking at my own 52J, this would be an easy modification. You are looking for a short pipe that the tuning slide will fit into at one end. On the other end of the pipe will be threads for the retaining nut. Your repair person could order a piece that has the correct threads, then solder it onto the new connecting pipe.

You would then be able to swap out the 5th-valve any time you wanted to.

If anyone decides to remove their 5th valve from their 52/56J, I would be interested in knowing what you think. This is something I was thinking about last year. Yeah, a 5th valve is useful, but not necessary. I would be curious to see how it responds, and of course, it would be lighter.

Wouldn't the new King BBb version have a tuning slide receiver which would fit? It might have to be cut for length but it seems that it could be easily adapted. Relatively cheaply, too.

(Cheap being a relative word when used in conjunction with tubas.)

Anyone know how much the piece of tubing AlexC was refering to might cost? I am seriously interested in having this piece made.

Cost of brass tubing: Cheap

Cost of installation = Moderate

Finding a technician that does good, clean work so the horn still looks good = Priceless!



Of course there are several folks who could do this job. It all depends on who wants to spend the time to do it and what they want to charge. After working on a 56J, I can tell you that it could be done for around $100.00 and wouldn't be too difficult. Daryl