The MAW valve

[iiipopes]

OK, I've seen various valve systems over the years that promote playability.

Every one of these is forgetting something: it's nice to have as open a blow as possible through the valves, but by the nature of the cylindrical tubing, when a valve is pressed, it will be a harder blow than if the valve is open.

Have any valve systems actually taken this into account: that it is the consistency of the blow, from open through whatever valve combination, that helps a player be consistent in tone, intonation and pitch? It's not the absolute resistance to the blow, but the relative resistance to the blow that provides the feedback to the player.

In other words, I've actually been known to add resistance to the open port of the 3rd or 4th valve to tighten up the open blow so when I push 3 or 4 that there is not a noticable difference in the blow, which keeps air flow or relative resistance consistent, and therefore more consistent articulation, slurring, pitch centering, etc.

So this is an interesting system, but give me a valve system that regulates the resistance to be equal whether or not the valve is pushed, so that the path through the valves when depressed is the more "open" path through the valve, and the open valve path is offset to maintain a similar resistance for more consistency of blow.

[Frank Ortega]

Actually, however it is accomplished, I do believe that the MAW valve gives the most consistant blow when valves are depressed or open. Slurring is easier, response is quicker, and tone is just plain bigger.

Obviously I'm a fan. You'll have to try them for yourself.

Frank

[jtuba]

Call him, he will call you back and answer all of your questions. I didn't find it particularly cheap, but won't know the true value to me until I'm able to A/B and record for myself.

[Art Hovey]

I just learned tonight that "BOGO" is an acronym. (I thought "BOGO-Free" implied the absence of some nasty chemical, but apparently everyone else knows what it means.)
Does "MAW" stand for something other than "mama"?

[Frank Ortega]

Martin A. Wilk = Maw

[Steve Marcus]

Does the amount of positive effect of the MAW valves vary from piston horn to piston horn?

What tuba models would not significantly change their playing characteristics by the installation of the MAW valves?

[Jess Haney]

Can he make these for a Willson 3100?

[rodmathews]

I just got my production set of valves a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to post a few comments.

I played some concerts the morning after dropping in the new valves, and it was very easy to cut right over to them. The response time is faster, the short notes were way easier to match to the trombones, and the sound was much more resonant. The venting method Martin used works great, and the little "pop" between notes is gone when playing legato. It's MUCH easier to play extremely smooth slurred passages. They are a great upgrade to the PT-6p, and I would recommend them to anyone with one of these horns.

They pretty much dropped right into the tuba. I just had to trim down the valve guides a bit because my particular instrument has relatively shallow valve guide channels. This is also an issue with the factory valves, so it's not specific to the MAW fit.

I can't speak to how they might improve another horn, but the improvement on the PT-6P is well worth the investment.

If anyone wants to try these in Northern California, drop me a private message. They are easy to A/B compare between the factory valves, and I'll bet most folks make that comparison exactly once.

[Paul Scott]

The patent is no longer pending as I understand it-it's a done deal.

[Leland]

Really interesting. If I was playing my concert tuba more, I'd be all over this.

[mikefor]

I put MAW valves in my MW 2141 and was amazed at the difference. They opened up the sound in all registers. The middle and upper registers now have a much freer response. In the lower register the sound seems closer to a CC - speaking of which I have been in contact with Martin Wilk about the possibility of using them in my Besson 995. This may be a little difficult as the pistons could require modification, but my experience with them on the MW 2141 has been very positive. I'd never put the original MW pistons back.

[Lectron]

Would anyone know if he can make for compensated tubas?

Well....I do not doubt he can, so my question is more if he does