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So I finally decided to go ahead with my little "remove the 5th valve" experiment on my Conn 52J...... Matt Walters....DID THE REST..... this guy is not only an amazing person to deal with, he is a true craftsman in every sense of the word!! In my mind it was a simple thing...... just cut a piece of tubing, do a little soldering.....and voila...done....well After he showed me the work that was involved, went through the entire process .......I was dumbfounded Not only did he do an amazing job, it is such neat/clean work that no one could ever tell it wasnt a factory part. right down to the silverplating he had done on the piece so it would match ( I didnt even ask for/expect this)
So end result, besides having a horn that can go as a 4 or 5 valver.......

Incredible improvement on response...in all registers
Improved intonation ( I always thought it was good, until know...I know it's good)
Bit more manageable (no 5th slide sticking you out the back....little bit of a weight loss too)

I cannot say enough about the work and detail this man puts forth. If you need something done... Or even have a CRAZY idea like me talk to Matt.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. (e.g. why? )

JayW wrote:If you have any questions please feel free to ask. (e.g. why? )

So where are the pictures?

bloke wrote:

ThomasDodd wrote:So where are the pictures?

Yeah, it's crappy, but I only have "Paint" loaded, and this wasn't worth more than 3 minutes of my time.

How about a shot without the 5th valve?
Or showing detail on the removable section?

You've got me interested! Right now, my Yammy 621 is serving my purposes for a light duty horn, but I'm tempted!!! Good luck. Tell us more after you've used it a bit.

Well.... the question "WHY" has come up, as i figured it would. I will do my best to explain my "logic" (I'm trying, lol) in having this modification done.
If you look at a Conn 5xJ at the main tuning slide, you will notice that the bore starts increasing in size immediately (one end of the main tuning slide it noticeably larger than the other) However when it meets the 5th valve it suddenly tapers down.....in order to squeeze through the "too small" 5th valve and then increases again after the valve. My thought was "isn't this bad?" for the air to do this ? Maybe I was wrong , maybe I was right.... Only one way to find out! Soooo... I went ahead with it and had the benefit of having both Matt and Davin at Dillons agree that the horn played much better (response, intonation) and after playing it I agree. I am thrilled with the improvement. I thought I loved my horn before and how it played...well now I know I am thrilled with how it plays.

If anyone is in the NYC metro area, and thinks i am crazy I invite you to try it out. I would love to get the opinion of other tubists and see what they think.