52J/56J revisited...

[TubaTodd]

I'm also amazed at .... how much can be done to hot-rod them up.

Do tell!

[Mudman]

Synthetic valve-guides. Why didn't the horn come with them? The clanking might be covered up in ensemble music, but is very loud when performing (or recording) solos.

Extra spit valve on the small fourth slide.

[TexTuba]

I can't say it enough. THEY ARE GREAT! You find a good one and you will not regret it. They're compact, easy to reach slides, and they can shake the walls if need be. If you're looking for a horn try them. If you already have one then you know what I'm talking about. The only thing I don't think it could do is large orchestral. But then again I think Kyle Turner played on one...





Ralph

[JayW]

Yes, Kyle did play his Conn 52J in the NY Phil. Later he used a 54J

I am lucky ebough to be the owner of the former....an extraordinary instrument. Even after I had the attachment made so I could remove the 5th valve Which I must say has actually helped a lot.

[choisy]

so is it still worth to buy ?

[TubaTodd]

OK here it is. I have a 56J and I love it. I bought it from Matt at Dillon Music in July of 2001 and I chose it out of about 6 or 7 52/56J's with bright and satin silver finishes. My memory of selection process is a bit fuzzy (I was high on TUBA), but I believe that some of the horns felt and played as Randy Jackson from 'American Idol' would say, "just OK." I finally narrowed down my selection (based primarily on sound and agility.....I didn't bring a tuner....whoops) to 2 satin silver tubas. The one I selected had rather rough valves. Matt took that horn to his workshop and returned with what felt like an an entirely new valve set. (He does amazing work!) Once the valves were smooth it was an easy selection. Since that visit my tuba has only been worked on ONCE and that servicing was by Lee Stofer. Lee fixed a broke 1st valve guide, cleaned the horn and installed a custom valve stopper on the first valve. The stopper is very handy.

Overall I love my horn, but I do have 1 issue. For some reason when I play an E natural in the staff the note will often crack like I have some sort of sympathetic vibration that is causing a weird clashing. (It sounds like a Wookie) I've tried playing the E open and 1 & 2 with slides adjusted a variety of different ways, but I can't seem to figure out what the deal is. It doesn't happen all of the time. Practice has helped lead to more success. I have owned about 5 tubas in my career and I never had a problem with that note before. The problem is akin to hitting an Ab on the top line on a CC tuba. I have always found that note to be a note that I need to anticipate in order to slot the note properly. I believe it has to do with all of the tubing (and resistance) of the 2nd and 3rd valves.

Has anyone else had this issue??

With that 1 note aside, I couldn't imagine being happier with any other tuba.

[MileMarkerZero]

Make sure you get the valves lapped...UMI doesn't do it in the manufacturing process anymore.

And re: the removable 5th...can someone post a pic of wht this looks like?

Thanks.

[JayW]

OK, as per request here are some pics of my Conn and I'll do my best to explain why ..... General pic of what it looks like now



Here is a pic of the 5th valve...notice how the air needs to do a lot of work to "squeeze through" as the bore size decreases and it has to get through the bend in the valve


Now here is the piece that I had Matt Walters make....I think you will see my point


The horn plays considerably better now and I always have the ability to put the 5th valve back on, if i feel i need it. However afte concert band brass band and quintet gigs since it has been off I do not see any need for now.

I know it looks simple, but I was shocked when Matt told me the work involved of getting the whole setup to line up properly including the 5th valve. All of the joints had to be re-aligned but he did an incredible job of making the whole thing appear stock.

Any more questions please feel free to ask.

Oh yeah, I followed Dave's lead and filed down tthe finger buttons too, they are much more comfortable and help make the valve action a little lighter.
As for the comments about valves and slides in another post.... My valves have good compression and my slides all work great.

[JayW]

just one more photo to show the 5th valve assembly and the straight pipe side by side. Again kudos to Matt Walters for making it look stock ( i did not ask for silver plating, he just did it for me so it would look better) what a great guy

[TubaTodd]

After looking at the photos of Matt's work on your horn (awesome job as always) I wonder if it would be possible to fix the 5th valve issue, by using a larger bore valve. Hmmm....what about a tuba sized Thayer. Hee hee!

[JayW]

Both ideas have actually been discussed Todd. A tuba size thayer, while seeming like the idealistic solution would have to be very very large and would not fit where the cirrent valve goes. The thought of trying a larger bore valve (i.e. Meinl Weston) is something that Matt is going to be trying in the future. So we'll see. If that works, I'll be picking one of those up too

[MikeMason]

what about that king that was sold on ebay awhile back?probably a rudy valve,knowing Lee's afinity for rudy. it was probably a larger bore so why not ask the folks who have played it what they thing.should be similar results to the conn,i would think...