2341 King tuba owners....HELP


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Posted by Perplexed on July 01, 2003 at 12:34:26:

2341 King Owners! Help!
Several months ago I bought a new 2341 satin silver King tuba. It looks great. The tone (on most notes) is excellent. The valves (after replacing the first one) are now working well and it is pretty much in tune.

Here’s the rub. The horn leaks. I can especially feel it when I’m doing long tones (at rehearsals or in the practice room). I run out of breath way too soon. My lungs are fine. I have bigger horns so know the difference. When I pull the tuning slide, block it off and blow into the mp I hear (and feel) air leaking out the bottoms of the valves. The third one being the worst. There is NO COMPRESSION (no hiss) when I push (or pull) a
slide on the 1st, 3rd and 4th valves. No pop when I depress the values. Only the 2nd seems to have compression. The lead pipe connection has been checked and it doesn’t leak.
The bottom bow wire (those two 1/4th inch thin protective strips on the inside and outside) are over a 1/8th high on their ends and sharp enough to snag clothes and, occasionally, fingers. The solder has come lose (if it was ever soldered) on two of the brackets.
How many of you have run into this problem? I’m across the country from where I bought the horn and it gets expensive to be shipping it back and forth....even the valve and slide section. I could get the minor problems fixed here (soldering and filing down the wires) but the compression problem is something else. Is this just the way it is? Do I have to live with this? And should I expect satisfaction from where I bought it? Any suggestions???



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