Adding 5th Valve\Repair Shops

Repair and modification discussion
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UFTubaBassBone
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Adding 5th Valve\Repair Shops

Post by UFTubaBassBone »

I am wanting to add a fifth valve to my Lidl BBb tuba. Who are some repair shops people would recommend for such a modification? I am in Charlotte, NC. Also, would one need to typically provide the valve and tubing to the repair tech or are there shops that can build one from scratch? Any advice is appreciated.
Easy Mac
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Re: Adding 5th Valve\Repair Shops

Post by Easy Mac »

The tuba needs to have a leadpipe that enters the 1st valve from directly overhead. A lot of rotary BBb four-valved horns have a 1st valve where the leadpipe enters at a 45º angle. This can be made to work, but you likely will not be happy with what you end up with, and it will cost you more.

There needs to be an adequately large and safe space *somewhere* for the new slide to live. Take the horn to your tech and let them look at it and think about what needs to be done BEFORE you purchase any parts.

If you supply the parts you pay the price. If you have your tech get them you pay the price plus the shop markup for them, which frequently is 100% of whatever they paid. This is normal.

MY price for all of this would probably come to about $500 for everything if I purchased all new components directly from the factory. (The lever setup can cost close to $200, the valve and all its parts can run about the same. Slide tubing in brass runs about $15 to $20 per half-meter length, with nickel silver costing about twice that. Any crooks or weirdly-shaped runners can run from about $15 (up to $50 for some of the more complex shapes). Expect to pay a tech twice that unless you are close, beer-drinking buddies and he wants to cut you a sweet deal. Add to this the cost of shipping from Germany (if you get new parts from the factory) which for an order like that would probably cost $65-$100 for DHL/USPS delivery to you or your chosen shop.

Installation can take many hours, depending on the layout of the tuba. The slide routing can be svelt and protected, or it can be clumsy and exposed (but much less expensive).

A very rough guess would be $1500 total if you supply all the needed parts to the tech. Again, this is if you purchase new parts. If your tech supplies new parts look at upwards of $2000 for a quality job.

If you brought this to me with a box of good parts that fit each other correctly, and I did not have to purchase anything at all and just had to install the valve and then create the slide circuit and bracing you would pay me a grand for my time and effort.

In years past (many years past, that is) this could be done for about a grand for all parts and labor, but times have changed, parts prices have shot up, and labor charges have also gone way up. This is not cheap. Keep in mind that you might also need another lump of cash for a new leadpipe. Some BBb tubas' leadpipes will not allow for the addition of an additional valve at all, so you have to bend a new one or purchase one that will suit your needs. That can also add up to some labor time in research and long-distance telephone calls.

It is much easier to do this to a four-valved CC tuba, in most cases. Adding a 5th to a Miraphone 186 CC is a matter of ordering up the parts, trimming about 2.5" off the end of the leadpipe, and installing everything. Adding a 5th to something like an old-style YBB-641 is impossible without a new 1st valve and leadpipe. (The newer ones do not have the 45º offset for the leadpipe entry into 1st, so that saves a lot of money and time.)

Needed Parts
• rotary valve of the correct bore size and layout (A used one is fine if it does not leak.)
• matched set of inner and outer slide tubes of the correct size
• at least one crook, maybe two
• brace material
• 5th lever/bracket/spring assembly
• linkage to connect your lever to the valve's stop arm

In the end, one has to wonder why you would want a 5th valve on a middle-quality BBb tuba? The cost of doing this right is nearly the value of the horn, but the value of the horn will NOT double once the work has been done. I am not discouraging you to have this done to your horn at all. I just think you need to look at this realistically and honestly. This can be costly, labor-intensive work.

Keep in mind that if you have the needed parts already, with matching bores, all needed crooks, ferrules, braces, lever, linkage, etc. and you have a tech who has done this work before it could cost you MUCH less. I am just letting you know what you might be in for.

If you get this done please post photos of the final product for all of us to enjoy.

Best of luck.
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