bye-bye ugly string slidestops

[BramJ]

My Amati B&F 69 Kaiser had strings attached to the 1st and 4th slides as slide stops, I never liked these and also for the 4th slide it was on the wrong side and the attachment point pushed into my arm which wasn't very comfortable.
Because of the way I hold the tuba I didn't need the handle on the 1st slide so I had that extended and moved to the 3rd slide, I don't really need to move the 3rd a lot but it also acts as a nice "anchor" point to feel where my 1st slide is. The 1st and 4th valve are also vented and a extra water key was installed on the "2nd loop" of the tuning slide, I always have water getting stuck there and it is a really awkward spin with such a large tuba to get it out. The 2nd slide wasn't moving smootly because it wasn't completely parallel, that was also corrected

Still playing nice, just better looking and more comfortable










Before picture:

[arpthark]

Looks great!

I also dislike strings.

[bort2.0]

That's an awesome tuba!

The only thing I like about string is that it's guaranteed to not rattle or buzz. I've had something or another with metal slide stops, and eventually I just removed them or stopped using them as well.

[tubatodd]

@BramJ first of all, that looks fantastic! Beautiful horn and very tastefully done slide stops. Back when I had a Conn 56J, @Lee Stofer installed one for me on the first valve slide. It looked almost identical to yours. They work really well.

[BramJ]

I specifically asked to leave the stops raw brass this tuba has multiple raw brass accents (receiver, paddle bar and linkages) and I like how it combines with the nickel plating.

The stops are nice and quiet now, bit i might put one some clear heat shrink tube

My F tuba also has a similar slide stop, I guess it is an off the shelf component. The work was done by Adams, they are only 15 min drive away from here

[bloke]

I'm with you. I don't want shoe strings or strips of leather flopping around on my instrument.

[bloke]

All three of these are on the same instrument...

One is hand-operated.
One is spring-powered auto-return.
One is stationary - simply there to prevent the secondary slide from shooting out like a rocket when that slide assembly is pushed in.






I use Yamaha alto saxophone posts - rather than Bach trumpet #3 slide posts.
I'm thinking they may be those used on the octave mechanism...I chose them by size (small and low-profile), and buy one threaded and one drilled out (ie. a pair designed for a screw rod.) for any individual tuba application.
The reason that one of them is coated with shrink tubing is because - with certain pitches, played above celebratory volume levels - the threaded rod would vibrate...yeah: a distraction

The pre-made posts...cheap, and - in the time it would take to make a post - I can knock out someones minor repair, and actually make munny.

[BramJ]

Ah yes, woodwind parts make sense, those are full of posts and linkage rods

[bloke]

In particular, saxophone octave mechanism posts (which are oriented towards the length of the saxophone, rather than side to side) are nice and short, to keep the octave mechanism out of the way of other things that have to reach the top of the saxophone - such as the high E mechanism