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I was playing my F last night, and the apparent leak that I cannot locate seemed to get worse. It may have been that I was seated in a place where the ceiling was reflecting to me more of the sound issue I have been hearing.

I finally got sick of it and started taping off joints in the bugle to see if I could find it without spraying each joint with soapy water or even fully immersing the damnable beast.

After 30 minutes or so of putzing around, I discovered that one of the corks in my 5th valve had flaked off and was allowing the stop arm to rest in an over-rotated position, badly enough that it was causing the horn to sound like the water key was open.

These valves are removable, so that I would be able to install them in an awkward position and location. Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to inspect the rear alignment marks or the corks themselves while the valves are on the horn, and I have not taken it apart in some time. Soooooo… now I feel a bit stupid.

At least no one had to hold my hand while I fixed it.

I would like to add (since it is not worthy of a thread of its own) that I also switched permanently from Joe's excellent OG ultimate to his Shallowberger mouthpiece on this huge F tuba. Better intonation (for me), more characteristic F tuba timbre, and the low register is still very decent, though I will have to practice down there a little bit more to pull it off.

the elephant wrote: Wed Aug 12, 2026 12:33 pm I would like to add (since it is not worthy of a thread of its own) that I also switched permanently from Joe's excellent OG ultimate to his Shallowberger mouthpiece on this huge F tuba. Better intonation (for me), more characteristic F tuba timbre, and the low register is still very decent, though I will have to practice down there a little bit more to pull it off.

I still use the Solo #0--I was a bit nervous when I switched to it getting something a bit zippier, but I trust Joe, and it has been extra effective. I think he has a good point about smaller mouthpieces and no huge throats.

I had a small leak in my horn that I couldn't find. I got so fed up I ended up putting it underwater in the bathtub with a cork stopper after the valve set and a rubber hose hooked up to the MP receiver. Found the leak!