TubaForum.net

Hey, tuba brain trust...

I have two tubas with valves that are quite leaky. What is the best way to get these back to normal? One is a Buescher sousaphone (pistons, of course) and the other is an old Mirafone 186 product of the public school system (rotaries, of course).

Thanks for your (almost always) valued opinions!

I think Dan Oberloh is the guy to reach out to nowadays.

If you are referring to a 1920s era Buescher sousaphone, I believe Dan Schultz discovered that the 1960s vintage Selmer USA sousaphone pistons (Bundy/Signet/Buescher/etc) actually fit those ancient instruments. If the casings are not worn, you might be looking for some of those pistons…(??)

I can’t possibly know how worn your 186 rotors are, but my experience is that they typically wear more up and down than left and right, and if the vertical play is eliminated, even old mistreated school owned 186 rotors are usually still good enough to allow those old instruments to play pretty well. Otherwise, replacing them or rebuilding them is quite expensive indeed.

Miraculously, I was able to measure the specs on a sister 1960s model 184 rotor (#4 was missing, so I measured #3), and drew in the specs on a picture for Christian Niedermayer to fabricate me a replacement rotor to put in a casing where the rotor was missing. He came damn close to perfect, and it only took me about a half hour to fit that rotor into the old casing.
I would put this alongside my “new mouthpipe bending“ skills. I seem to have consistently really good luck with such endeavors, but it’s not something with which I’m completely comfortable.