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I've talked to Bloke a bit about this, and it seems the MAW valves just barely don't fit. However, I think I remember reading about someone who got them to work. I happen to have an extra pair from another instrument and would like to put them in the Wisemann - but not sure how I might do that or what I could tell my local tech. So for any Wisemann owners or repair guys - any luck with MAW valves in the tuba? I'm also hesitant to move forward because I don't necessarily want to change the valves in any way to make them fit and have them not work for other horns.

Thanks everyone!

I'm not sure how easy he is to get ahold of, but maybe Martin Wilk himself could give some ideas if you got in touch with him?

Or, contact this guy perhaps?

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Fedderly had one in his shop when they first hit the scene, and me being an enabler, suggested putting the MAW valves in this horn. Fit was fine, but I don't know if they've refined the valve section on the newer horns.

bloke wrote:The fit for the B&S/M-W-fitting MAW pistons, in my experience, is slightly loose in Wisemann casings...

...just loose enough that any advantage in acoustics is nixed by the leakage.

Interesting. In mine the valves seem slightly too big for the casings. The valve fits in the casing very tight and then won't move once I get the valve pushed all the way into the casing. Maybe the guides need to be trimmed differently or a light lapping might help?

Thanks for the responses so far!

Call Martin Wilk and ask him if he'd be willing to try converting the Wiseman valves to the MAW style.

kmorgancraw wrote:Call Martin Wilk and ask him if he'd be willing to try converting the Wiseman valves to the MAW style.

I'm sure he would. Once I stop being lazy and send him my spare valves for my CB50, he will be turning them into MAW valves, as well as making a custom 5th rotor to hopefully remove some of the stuffiness out of the lower part of the horn. I think Lee Stoner is also working with him on the sake thing for his surely better-assembled/made G50s.

The cost for him to modify the valves is about is about the cost for you to buy a new set of MAW valves, so it might be worth talking to him and your local tech to see if you can get a set of valves to fit. This way you won't have to invest too much money into a horn that you are trying to sell, though I know you love how it plays and the valves would only make it better.

Mine were fairly snug when I first put them in my 6450. Martin lapped them a bit to get them to fit properly. Give him a call.

Thanks everyone, I'm dropping the horn of to Martin on Friday. I'm excited to see what he does!