Re: 5th valve conversion left to right hand


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Lee Stofer on January 09, 2004 at 08:07:44:

In Reply to: 5th valve conversion left to right hand posted by Doc on January 08, 2004 at 18:07:19:

The difficulty and cost of converting the 5th valve from left- to right-hand operation can vary a lot. On Willie Brown's Cerveny, the valve was of the same configuration as normally found on a right-hand setup, and the only challenge was to remove the old linkage setup and fabricate a thumb trigger and saddle that looked like original equipment.
On the Rudolf Meinl (and most other) left-hand-operated 5th valves, the direction of travel for the valve is 90 degrees different from that of a right-hand setup, and the stop arm is on the back instead of the front, so there are several obstacles to overcome to make this setup work. Depending upon the make and model tuba, sometimes the tubing wrap makes the job more difficult, too.
One suggestion - before spending the money, if you have never given the left-hand mechanism a try, try playing it that way for a while. I have used a couple of instruments with left-hand valves, a 5-valve Czech F and a 6-valve Rudi F, and the left-hand valves never posed a problem.

Lee Stofer


Follow Ups: