Upgrades for Jupiter 1110 (582) Tuba?

[bbuxx2026]

Hey everyone,

I’m currently playing on a Jupiter 1110 (582) BBb tuba and was wondering what kinds of upgrades or modifications I could do to make it play better and last longer. I take good care of it, but I’m interested in things like better valve guides, springs, leadpipe swaps, or any small adjustments that could improve response, tone, or reliability.

I’ve been looking for new valve springs for noise reduction and metal valve guides for durability, but I haven’t had any luck finding ones that fit this model. I’m also looking for parts or ideas to increase general durability since I’ll be going to college soon and will be playing a lot more. So far, I’ve added rubber O-rings to my slides, and I’m planning to vent the valves and find a way to add rings to my first and third valve slides to attach a string or strap to keep them from accidentally coming out.

If anyone has experience upgrading or customizing the Jupiter 1110 (or similar Jupiters), I’d really appreciate any advice on where to find compatible parts or what upgrades are actually worth doing.

Thanks!

[arpthark]

I’d probably keep nylon guides. They are easily replaced, readily available and a lot quieter than metal guides. It’s generally more common to replace noisy metal guides with quiet nylon guides as an “upgrade,” especially if you’re wanting to reduce noise anyway.

As long as you take care of the horn, oil the valves, squirt oil down the leadpipe every so often, and get it cleaned and serviced regularly to prevent lime buildup and the potential for red rot, I don’t think longevity is a problem, but I may be misunderstanding you.

[iiipopes]

I added water keys in strategic locations, including the 2nd valve slide. I also had the receiver bent up for my slight overbite.

[bbuxx2026]

I added water keys in strategic locations, including the 2nd valve slide. I also had the receiver bent up for my slight overbite.

What was the cost to add the 2nd valve water key? I never thought of that its always full.

[iiipopes]

I added water keys in strategic locations, including the 2nd valve slide. I also had the receiver bent up for my slight overbite.

What was the cost to add the 2nd valve water key? I never thought of that its always full.

I'm sorry - that was about three years ago and I can't find the receipt.

[bloke]

Just keep it super lubricated, clean it thoroughly every few months - or at least once a year, carry it around in a hard case, don't drop it, and don't leave it in harm's way during rehearsal breaks. Springs are usually quiet if they are centered in the bottoms of the casings and not bent. Nylon guides are easier on the slots in piston casings than are metal ones. What I don't like about Yamaha and Jupiter nylon guides is that they have metal in them anyway, and it's not just brass, it seems to be steel, which is so much worse than brass. (JP valve guides - which are patterned after Besson - don't have any steel sandwiched in them, but anyone who owns their piston instruments notices that they don't have the problems with the guides that people with Jupiter and Yamaha steel sandwich guides have... the sandwich is supposed to prevent the tips from breaking off on the nylon guides, but what happens is that the nylon wears off exposing the steel, and then the steel begins to wreck the slot in the casing. Yes, the 100% plastic tip on JP valve guides can break off just like they used to on Yamaha and Jupiter, but at least there's no steel in there that can wreck the slot. Last thing on this: I sold a whole bunch of JP sousaphones to a nationally competitive marching band in the Memphis area. Being that the braces are complete copies of King braces, they tend to have fewer braces break, but also even when they dent the stew out of them and fill up the valve sections full of gunk, the valves continue to work. Mostly, it's the plastic guides - which don't have any metal in them - as well as being held in place more solidly via their Besson style design.)
If you can ever find some of the original style Jupiter guides that are brand new and don't have any metal sandwiched in them, I think I might encourage you to install those on your instrument and treat them with care.

At the very beginning, I encouraged you to clean it thoroughly at least once a year. Most people don't understand how to clean a piston valve brass instrument thoroughly, most of the garbage forms in very difficult to access places which are the knuckles feeding into the piston casings and the tubing which connects the casings to each other. You're going to have to find a way to clean those places. It's difficult. Your fingers might be too large to put your fingers in those places and push out the dirt, and a whole bunch of snake brushes are undersized, and all snake brushes are dangerous to use because of the metal in the end of the brush itself... but that's where most of the dirt is, and almost no one who cleans their instrument at home gets rid of that. Finally, sticking a tuba in a bathtub full of alkaline detergent is going to do nothing to dissolve harmful brass-rotting hard scale, because scale is also alkaline.

[iiipopes]

Just keep it super lubricated, clean it thoroughly every few months - or at least once a year, carry it around in a hard case, don't drop it, and don't leave it in harm's way during rehearsal breaks. Springs are usually quiet if they are centered in the bottoms of the casings and not bent. Nylon guides are easier on the slots in piston casings than are metal ones. What I don't like about Yamaha and Jupiter nylon guides is that they have metal in them anyway, and it's not just brass, it seems to be steel, which is so much worse than brass. (JP valve guides - which are patterned after Besson - don't have any steel sandwiched in them, but anyone who owns their piston instruments notices that they don't have the problems with the guides that people with Jupiter and Yamaha steel sandwich guides have... the sandwich is supposed to prevent the tips from breaking off on the nylon guides, but what happens is that the nylon wears off exposing the steel, and then the steel begins to wreck the slot in the casing. Yes, the 100% plastic tip on JP valve guides can break off just like they used to on Yamaha and Jupiter, but at least there's no steel in there that can wreck the slot. Last thing on this: I sold a whole bunch of JP sousaphones to a nationally competitive marching band in the Memphis area. Being that the braces are complete copies of King braces, they tend to have fewer braces break, but also even when they dent the stew out of them and fill up the valve sections full of gunk, the valves continue to work. Mostly, it's the plastic guides - which don't have any metal in them - as well as being held in place more solidly via their Besson style design.)
If you can ever find some of the original style Jupiter guides that are brand new and don't have any metal sandwiched in them, I think I might encourage you to install those on your instrument and treat them with care.

At the very beginning, I encouraged you to clean it thoroughly at least once a year. Most people don't understand how to clean a piston valve brass instrument thoroughly, most of the garbage forms in very difficult to access places which are the knuckles feeding into the piston casings and the tubing which connects the casings to each other. You're going to have to find a way to clean those places. It's difficult. Your fingers might be too large to put your fingers in those places and push out the dirt, and a whole bunch of snake brushes are undersized, and all snake brushes are dangerous to use because of the metal in the end of the brush itself... but that's where most of the dirt is, and almost no one who cleans their instrument at home gets rid of that. Finally, sticking a tuba in a bathtub full of alkaline detergent is going to do nothing to dissolve harmful brass-rotting hard scale, because scale is also alkaline.

This ^ Especially about keeping it clean internally. After my hiatus due to my fall and subsequent surgery, I had not cleaned it in quite some time. Then one evening at rehearsal, everything involving the 2nd valve went flat. A good internal cleaning in the knuckles next to the valves resolved the issue.