Alex S-linkage Bearing Mod

[SousaSaver]

Hi everyone!

A while back we did a conversion on an Alexander BBb Tuba. The idea is to switch the noisy old worn out bearings on the S shaped lever arms with mini ball bearings which are held into the stop arm with set screws instead of a tapered steel pin.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... bd123b8eb6
ABOVE: the original linkage

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 5c35f04b7c
ABOVE: STEP 1: remove the old bearing from the lever arm

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... d9ca9214d8
ABOVE: STEP 2: solder in new mini ball bearing to the lever arm.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 29d8ca4576
ABOVE: STEP 3: the stop arm has to be tapped out for the proper set screws

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 5c1b01d372
ABOVE: The finished linkage - smooth and quiet.

Let me know what you think.

[SousaSaver]

I will post some more accessible photos in a bit...