Posted by pic-man on January 11, 2004 at 21:44:41:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Gronitz PCK candids posted by The lower 3 waterkeys.... on January 11, 2004 at 19:47:09:
All of the waterkeys are factory-style and factory supplied. I ordered them from Gronitz to match the factory waterkeys.
With the five waterkeys, I'm able to empty the entire instrument without removing any slides, and only one tilt to the player's right (to empty the upper #2 slide water down into the main tuning slide.
Here is a picture of the adjustable thumb roller system that I constructed to replace the factory thumb paddle. This eliminates all "scooting" (dragging against the skin) of the paddle against the thumb - formerly caused by the contrary rotor motions of the thumb vs. the paddle.
The only other "after-market" stuff includes the obligatory upper #1, #3, and #4 slide alignment/fitting, along with venting of the pistons...Oh, I put some of those Boosey & Hawkes bumpers under the fingerbuttons, along with some plastic shims, and the same thing under the valve caps.