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Is it just me, or have others had issues with the rounded/bent finger paddles which seem to be standard on the rotary "imports?" The bend at the large end does make for a smooth feel, but I find my fingers tend to slip off the paddle. I've tried building up the end of the paddle with sheet cork so it is flat/level and with a bit of a grip, but finally I gave up and simply re-bent them straight albeit with a noticeable crease. Soldering on collectable coins is the next step. Could the manufacturers offer an option on these? Even an aftermarket installation of flat paddles, would be fine with me.

If the paddles really want to "contain" your fingers, they should bend upwards, not downwards. I forget which other brand has the downward bend paddles, but I seem to remember seeing that on something German; maybe I'm wrong.

My Willson has (factory installed) "disks" on the valve paddles... not really the right word, but hard to describe until I can post a photo. Probably about the size of a dime, and concave, so your fingertips kind of go "in" and not "on". They're attached with a small nut, so they're adjustable to fit your hand better. I like it a lot, and seems like a nice factory solution to avoid the coin method.

Because my pinky is shorter than average and slightly curved from previous injury, when I first got my 186 I scheduled an appointment with my tech, and we sat down and I demonstrated my playing and right hand position, and we unsoldered, formed, resoldered, and set the position of each paddle in all orientations (length, spacing, angle, and height compared to the other paddles), to tailor the paddles to my hand so I didn't have to worry or fidget about anything. I just sit down and play.

iiipopes wrote:Because my pinky is shorter than average and slightly curved from previous injury, when I first got my 186 I scheduled an appointment with my tech, and we sat down and I demonstrated my playing and right hand position, and we unsoldered, formed, resoldered, and set the position of each paddle in all orientations (length, spacing, angle, and height compared to the other paddles), to tailor the paddles to my hand so I didn't have to worry or fidget about anything. I just sit down and play.

Likewise, I bent up the fourth valve paddle on my Marzan slant-valve to compensate just for pinky length. Fortunately my right pinky has not received prior modification...

I keep a few of the 'clone' finger paddle assemblies and sometimes use them to replace destroyed parts on European tubas. They aren't near as robust as the originals but will get the job done. The good thing is that they bend easily and are easily configured to work on most anything.

The bad thing is that they bend easily.

Gotta take the bad with the good!

I had to bend my 5th valve paddle... It felt like my thumb was on the outer edge and I was having to pull rather than push to operate.

The marks on my 4th paddle show that my pinky is right on the edge and occasionally slips off. Anyone still glue a quarter to their paddles?

58mark wrote:I soldered some coins to my piggy paddles and swapped the positions of the 3rd and 4th valves to create and angled valve section. I was battling nerve damage and numbness from an awkward hand position and had to do something

Wow, I didn't think of the wrist constantly being bent down like that. Mine hurts after playing a while, too.