Venting Piston Valves

[tubatodd]

I am interested in having the pistons in my Besson 995 vented. I feel it would make slide adjustments easier. I would be able to make slide adjustments in anticipation of or after pressing the valves.

What are the negatives of piston valve venting? The rotors on my Rudy are already vented and I like that.

[Misfituba64]

Factory-vented valves can be an excellent feature. However, having valves vented by an inexperienced repair person can be risky. If you choose to go that route, make sure you work with someone who has real experience and knows exactly what they are doing. Another option would be to contact Besson directly and ask whether they can factory-vent a set of valves and buy them.

Vented valves will not necessarily make playing easier or improve overall performance. Their main benefit is reducing some of the popping or pressure noise that can occur when moving slides. The biggest potential downside is having the work done improperly by someone who lacks the necessary skill, which could damage the valves and make them leaky. It is worth thinking through carefully and proceeding with caution.

[PlayTheTuba]

Had a colossal brain fart, I have now read your post extra carefully.

Warren Kus is a fantastic person reach out too, assuming Buffet-Crampon (MW/Besson/B&S) is willing to make and send vented valves from factory.

BUT

Baltimore Brass as of March 31, 2026 is an extension of the Buffet Tuba Showroom! I haven't seen it announced here on TubaForum.net.



If you contact either good sir Warren Kus and/or Baltimore Brass and don't mind sharing, do let us know! Or you have a repair tech vent them, please share and let us know!

[GrecoTrombone]

[sweaty]

I've had my valves vented on my Willson euphonium, Besson Eb tuba, Martin Mammoth, and King sousaphone. They slur more smoothly after the venting.

[bloke]

Those who claim there are negatives are some of the same people who promote other superstitions that cause me to do this:

Some people claim that you shouldn't do it with leaky valves, but why not? They're already leaky. If air is seriously leaking across (particularly on the piston valve instrument) from a port down to a place that's 9/10 of an inch lower, those valves are freaking hopeless anyway.

Somebody said you shouldn't hire a hack to do the job.

Yeah.

[JC2]

In my opinion:

There aren’t any negatives of real consequence to venting your valves. Having the slides lapped along with vented valves makes adjusting intonation a breeze. It opens up a whole world of alternate fingerings options with different slide placements. Just make sure you have some sort of string or slide limiter installed so they don’t fall out.

[RoseCityInstruments]

Todd,

Nothing wrong with doing it. Make sure the valve slides are all in parallel and plane as well while you're doing this, so you're getting the benefits of the ability to slide pull. I've vented valves on all of my piston tubas and have never had any issue with them!