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Has anyone ever seen a long 5th valve slide for a Willson tuba? The 23-combination setup?

I learned how to play CC tuba with this configuration, and have used it about half of my tuba life. It's a hard habit to break, so if I can have this slide setup, things would be a little easier for my brain.

I emailed Willson a few weeks ago, but no reply yet. They almost always write back, but sometimes it takes a little while to hear from them.

I'm guessing that because of the small sample size, no one has seen this. But who knows, and maybe someone who has been to Flums has seen this in the showroom or something?

Thanks!

The Willson Eb I purchased had one of these extensions for the 5th slide so I can definitely confirm that they do exist. I have mine in storage because I never use it since I prefer the flat whole step configuration.

Great, thanks Jay!

I'll be a little more patient to wait to hear from Willson. Probably a long holiday break or something. Probably something I will want to get sooner than later, and money allows. I've played a lot of 235 notes that are NOT F's!

Thanks!

bloke wrote:I received a reply with some information about a month after I asked the question...and the reply wasn't helpful.

Parts inquiries are referred back to Getzen, and prices are not ...well... particularly attractive.

Strange, I asked about parts for a LH 5th valve setup, and was given a direct price quote and it was pretty reasonable -- less than Miraphone.

Either way, will be curious to find out, if possible.

My guess, that is, that if you wanted one badly enough, a slide made locally could wind up being much more economical. Especially here in the Twin Cities, I can think of several techs that could do it. Then send it off to Anderson for the silver.

I like the flat whole step 5th valve and also on the right hand thumb. All of my tubas have this set up and it makes it easy to transfer one tuba to the other without having to think which is which.

I can see the 2 & 3 on a BBb as the Gb/Db is a bugger. Tune Gb to one and Db to the other and you're good to go.

On a CC tuba, I've never thought the 2 & 3 presented the same lipping difficulties as on a BBb. Plus a handy 3rd valve slide can alleviate that issue.

Past a certain point, one needs to just settle down with a tuba and get used to it. None are perfect, but you can keep dinging with things and get that puppy trained to do all sorts of tricks. To me that is part of the fun.

Paul (Who thinks he can wind up with the perfect tuba if he just gets used to it) Maybery

I hear you Paul, and I can certainly live with it. After all these years though (I'm 35, so its not THAT long I guess), I just have it stuck in my head that rotary tubas have 5 = 23 combo. And I think that piston tubas feel better as 5 = flat whole step.

Not awful if it never happens, but if you can customize something to your exact needs, why not?

bort wrote:Has anyone ever seen a long 5th valve slide for a Willson tuba? The 23-combination setup?

I learned how to play CC tuba with this configuration, and have used it about half of my tuba life. It's a hard habit to break, so if I can have this slide setup, things would be a little easier for my brain.

I emailed Willson a few weeks ago, but no reply yet. They almost always write back, but sometimes it takes a little while to hear from them.

I'm guessing that because of the small sample size, no one has seen this. But who knows, and maybe someone who has been to Flums has seen this in the showroom or something?

Thanks!

Yes. When I bought my 3200 F, the previous owner had the 5th valve slide extended to a major third. He had a local repair person make the slides - looked professional, functioned fine. He had the original "flat whole step" tubing, though, and I re-installed them shortly after purchase. Personal preference.

Have someone local build you the slides, if you want. If it were me, I'd stick with the flat whole step configuration. YMMV.