Valve jobs

[Kctuba]

I know that at one time not long ago people were concerned about where they were going to send valve sets to be redone because of problems with people retiring from Anderson. I’m considering purchasing a 28J that looks like it probably needs at the very least the valves to be replated. Where is the G2 spot for this now or are there actually some other options?

[bloke]

I'm thinking those are a size smaller bore than the full-size sousaphones (maybe roughly the bore of a King tuba?)

You might be better off (financially) finding a 3-valve King tuba body (missing its bell, etc.) and transplanting the King valveset onto that 28J.

...' never done it, don't want to, not sure of any of this, which is why I used the word, "might".


I do feel fairly confident that the un-soldering/re-soldering of the valveset (required), round-trip shipping to/from the valve rebuilder, the actual valve rebuilding, and any cosmetic touchups could easily exceed $1500...and what else (other than the valves) might need to be fixed?

[BopEuph]

There's a guy in Texas that I've had two horns done with. He's really very inexpensive. It's not Oberloh level, but they're good. The issue is it can take up to a year for the job to get done. 13 months in, and the valves are reportedly done on my Conn, I'm just waiting for them to be shipped now. The Holton sousaphone plays very well now that it's rebuilt.

He's shown me pics of his shop with 20 tubas on the shop floor for overhauls from schools. Guy is completely overwhelmed. But if you're patient, you might be able to get him to rebuild the valves.

But, Bloke's suggestion actually might cost about as much and be much quicker.

[The Big Ben]

Dan Oberloh in Seattle rebuilds valve sets- piston and rotor. He's pretty busy but would be one to ask.

www.oberloh.com

[TxTx]

There's a guy in Texas that I've had two horns done with. He's really very inexpensive.

Curious who your guy in Texas is.

Eric (also in Texas)

[BopEuph]

It's in Fort Worth. It's called 5-Line Technology. He takes a while but does a good job.