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My 1241 has drainage issues where the spit collects in hard to access areas of itself, namely the top of the 3rd valve tuning slide Q and the bottom of the 4th tuning slide bow. It can also get spit stuck in the valve casings from time to time. To a lesser extent it happens in the 1st slide. I know that these are common problems on these instruments specifically. What are modifications I can to to make draining the tuba easier?

Welcome to the King 1241. Search the old threads, both here and TubeNet. You will find many threads about how to learn and master the "King Spin" to flip the tuba around in various directions to drain the water.

Name_Plate wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 9:07 am My 1241 has drainage issues where the spit collects in hard to access areas of itself, namely the top of the 3rd valve tuning slide Q and the bottom of the 4th tuning slide bow. It can also get spit stuck in the valve casings from time to time. To a lesser extent it happens in the 1st slide. I know that these are common problems on these instruments specifically. What are modifications I can to to make draining the tuba easier?

1st valve-Cut to top pull action (have experienced tech do this to be safe) then while horn is on bell, pull top slide and dump.
3rd valve curly-Q loop- Do the same process mentioned above for the 1st valve or just pull the short slide out while horn is on bell to dump water (easy)
4th valve- Could do an Amado key on the knuckle like mine, or..another water key on the inner 4th branch as you mentioned.

With these methods (even without the cutting of slides or adding water keys) you won't have to do any horn spinning. Setting them on the bell and pulling all top slides will get most of it out..4th inner branch/knuckle water keys if ANYTHING are the most important out of all that's mentioned here.

If someone has this tuba, maybe they could make a video of the King spin, and we could post it here as a help or as a visual aid?

Doc wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 11:06 am If someone has this tuba, maybe they could make a video of the King spin, and we could post it here as a help or as a visual aid?

Yes - that would be VERY helpful! Anybody?...

Just had to...but seriously, yes would be nice to officially see this spin people talk about as a method to draining the water.

The Amado Key looks like a promising solution, I'll certainly look at getting that done in the future. I've got the spin down, its just real inconvientant to do do while in the middle of a piece. I could certainly improve the sides response too so emptying the curly Q is quicker. Out of curiosity how much did the top pull on the first slide cost to convert?

Name_Plate wrote: ↑Fri Nov 20, 2020 12:37 pm The Amado Key looks like a promising solution, I'll certainly look at getting that done in the future. I've got the spin down, its just real inconvientant to do do while in the middle of a piece. I could certainly improve the sides response too so emptying the curly Q is quicker. Out of curiosity how much did the top pull on the first slide cost to convert?

A couple hundreds bucks probably if you're a "walk-in" customer with a reputable tech (who wants to do the work) is my guess. I'd say well worth the money.

Thank you for the help!

I've been playing on King 1241's since 82' and one thing that really helps with draining water is flipping the first valve slide so it pulls from the top, also helps Alot with tuning, and having the loop in the third slide replaced with straight tubes(like the 2341 detachable horns.That being said the "King spin" will empty the main bugle and the fourth slide. You turn the horn, not too fast so the water has time to get to where it needs to be, twice counterclockwise and use the spit valves. Then, with the 1st and third altered as described, lean it to the left and pull those two slides. It sounds complicated and time consuming but I found that I only needed to do the whole procedure between tunes. The spit valve seem to handle everything in the short term(on the fly). Best of luck, Ed

I generally add a couple of waterkeys to my personal Kings. The 'King spin' can appear pretty dramatic when done by high-schoolers. But... it can be done with little fanfare by laying the horn flat in your lap and rocking it side-to-side and front-to-back. Until you get the hang of it... just visualize where the water will run as it exits to the mail tuning slide. Once collected into the main slide it gets pretty easy to get rid of it.

By-the-way.... It's condensation from 98.6 degree 99% humidity breath hitting the cooler surfaces of the tuba.. Not spit. It's not good to drool or spit into your horn!

I will second the Amado on the 4th valve knuckle. I just took mine in to have this issue looked at by an extremely competent tech and he recommended the same thing.