They sound plenty good! Nice job.

Funny you should mention this. I just finally used up the supply I had and restocked. The last stuff was on a spool. This time it came in a nifty hang card blister pack dispenser. I don’t use much of it, so 50 ft. should last me a while.

“Tie wire.”

The earlier version has a more open wrap right after the valve set similar to the 2165.

There were two distinctly different versions of the piston 2155. The one that, to me, is MUCH more desirable is the version wrapped like the 2000 (the first version of the piston 2155 was not wrapped the same as the 2000…).

This one in the eBay ad Joe posted is the later wrap.

”bloke” wrote:"I don't like pistons/rotors."

“I don’t like tubas that suck.”

“bloke” wrote:At least $1,000 less than the Jinbao sort-of-like-it

Buy this and a tube of Wenol. Done.

bloke wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 7:07 amIt was terrible, and some of it is still somewhat terrible but it's going to play.

Every repair isn’t going to be a restoration. Most are “keep ‘em playing.” Expecting a champagne repair for soda pop cost is unrealistic.

Looks good and “good enough.”

If that knuckle looks that bad, what’s the rest of the instrument look like!?

Ok, everyone, all together now…

We respect you, Rodney! It’s darn fine work. Takes more skill than slapping on a premade piece with some soft solder.

Love it! I’m stealing that picture!

If you have what’s needed already, why not? High volume young scholar support dictates keeping more stuff on hand than junk piles can supply. Time being money, places like Badger State fill the need.

“Not my circus, not my young scholars, er, uh, monkeys.”

Looks like one of ”Fast Eddie’s” knuckle patches. Good job! Never saw those. Isn't he someone who worked for Badger? Ed Strege. He the owner of Badger State. They used to (maybe still do) sell a knuckle patch with attached flange like in your picture for use on rotary valves, especially F-attac ...

Looks like one of ”Fast Eddie’s” knuckle patches.

Good job!

See above for clarity. Had an idea…

Just wondering out loud (well, you know what mean…), would it help if the saddle wasn’t saddle shaped, but rather just flat? Just to clarify… What I meant by this is what if you could adjust the height, but rather than the saddle shape it was something like a flat rubber disc at the height you’d lik ...

Just wondering out loud (well, you know what mean…), would it help if the saddle wasn’t saddle shaped, but rather just flat?

Tromboon in action!

In many ways, I prefer a dot of silver bearing solder to a patch if the problem is just a tiny weak spot or small crack resulting from a small, sharp dent in an old leadpipe. The dot will last as long as the rest of the pipe.

I keep a microfiber cloth on the saddle. Allows me to slide the horn when I want, but it isn’t too slippery. I’ve had detached retinas in both eyes and my resultant vision is good, but presents challenges. I need to occasionally adjust my position.