Fifth Rotor On MW2155

josh wagner · Post by **josh wagner** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:02 am

I was wondering if anyone else had a problem with their MW2155 well not the horn just one slide. My thumb trigger (or fifth rotor) is always flat no matter what. i have it pushed all the way in and everything but no matter how i do it it will not go in tune. Any suggestions or could it just be a mishap when it was made. Thanks for any reply

Doug@GT · Post by **Doug@GT** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:27 am

The fifth rotor is supposed to be flat, so that it will produce an in-tune low F when played 4+5.

cjk · Post by **cjk** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 11:07 am

If what you're doing is holding the fifth down and trying to use BBb tuba fingerings, most of them will be flat.... That's not what it's supposed to be used for.

josh wagner · Post by **josh wagner** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:00 pm

My fourth is pulled out about four inches on top. But i'm not trying to use BBb fingerings it just doesn't go in tune with i'm playing 4+5 it may be me but i can't get it in tune with those fingerings. i tune my fourth valve and then when i go down i push in the 5th and the little needle on the tuner just flies to the left heh. It might just be me. Dunno Proubly is me though

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 1:17 pm

Four inches is an awful lot to get low G in tune. Have you tried it up an octave to see if open bottom line G and the same note played with the 4th valve are the same pitch? The problem may be somewhere else rather than the thumb valve. It is really easy to let the lower notes go sharp. When I first got back into playing, I had to constantly remind myself to drop my jaw to get notes below 2d ledger line C in tune and not be sharp.

Jonathan Fowler · Post by **Jonathan Fowler** » Wed Dec 07, 2005 2:29 pm

The fourth slides for most 2155's (mine included) usually needs to be pulled a bit...4 inches doesn't seem like too much to me. If none of the 5th valve combos are working for you, you might have to do some "trombone" playing with the fourth to get a usable low F....since you have 4 inches to work with that shouldn't be a problem.

"4 inches doesn't seem like to much to me"-I just reread that...

jon

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:45 pm

Try splitting the difference on the 4th slide between the top and bottom; some "claim" this improves the intonation. On my 2145 I always did this and didn't have any problems; but I DID move the 5th slide between being all the way in and out about 3/4"-1" depending on the note.

phoenix · Post by **phoenix** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:07 pm

no tuba is built perfectly in tune, and we deal with this by pulling out and pushing in slides while we play. Do you do this? Your 4th slide might need to be out 4 inches to get an in tune G, but when you play an F, you'll just need to throw in you 4th slide, if it's still flat with the 5th slide all the way in.

Gorilla Tuba · Post by **Gorilla Tuba** » Thu Dec 08, 2005 10:21 pm

josh wagner wrote:it just doesn't go in tune with i'm playing 4+5 it may be me but i can't get it in tune with those fingerings. i tune my fourth valve and then when i go down i push in the 5th and the little needle on the tuner just flies to the left heh. It might just be me.

Its not just you. My really old B&S PT6 (although pre-perantucci) seemed to have "too flat" 5th valve. I play the low F 13&5 and it is great.

I also tune my 3rd valve a little different than others. I tune my D to be in tune with 1&3 and my Db 2&4. I found that with these tunings just work better on my horn. Consequently, the only note that I have to move a slide for is Ab (1st space), for which I push my easily reachable 3rd slide.

All horns take a while to figure out how to best set the slides and what fingerings work best. I get out the tuner and do a pitch tendency chart once or twice a year. There were a lot of changes for the first few years I had the horn. As I have now lived with the instrument for a while, the charts have become pretty consistent.