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KingTuba1241X wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 9:04 am 3rd valve pull ring? Do C players need to pull that slide alot I thought maybe 1st would. That Mahler is now twice the cost of the Mack 410 and other variants. I wonder how well it plays in comparison.

KingTuba1241X wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 9:09 am Mark, the very old Leningrad horns had those and were a pain the butt when they got old because they would keep backing out of the hole and the whole stop arm would pop off mid song at random. Maybe 1960's Soviet engineering was < Modern Chinese I don't know. But the engraving is neat on these at least.

LeMark wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 9:10 am

KingTuba1241X wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 9:09 am Mark, the very old Leningrad horns had those and were a pain the butt when they got old because they would keep backing out of the hole and the whole stop arm would pop off mid song at random. Maybe 1960's Soviet engineering was < Modern Chinese I don't know. But the engraving is neat on these at least.

It might be something that looks like that design as a tribute, but functions differently. I know the Z valves come apart differently than a normal rotor

Doc wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 11:15 am They put out a video on Z valve maintenance:

Z valves

Wyvern wrote: ↑Mon Sep 14, 2020 3:09 pm Right now got to this thread!

To answer your points;

The fancy screw on the top of the rotary valves is based on traditional German design. You will find on some B&F and Alexander tubas. It is made of nickel silver, but should not have to be screwed hard on, as we now pay special attention that the stop arm is always tight on the top of valve - and the valve is tight in the bearings (no slack).

The Mahler CC tuba is an improvement overs similar design tubas from other suppliers in many ways. We have gone for the original size bell of the Miraphone 16.5” which does make it play better, the leadpipe is nickel silver, the rotary linkage is a lot more robust and made of nickel instead of brass. The stop arm is improved, Z-valves are fitted for easier maintenance and as well as double silver plating, the brass is four times as much polished for a much better finish - it is quite noticeable. This is done by Wessex now dedicated team of polishers (the most experienced at factory) and production of the Mahler although not in the high-grade workshop is now also done by a dedicated Wessex team - and even QA is done by dedicated Wessex team. This was all agreed with factory management last year as the only way to consistently reach Wessex quality standards which are considerably higher than any other company Jinbao supplies. Most importers from China just want made as cheap as possible, while for Wessex cost is secondary to quality. That is fully understood by management and production workers at the factory. The last batch, although we could not get to the factory to QA on site as usual were impressively high standard (made the warehouse manager exclaim “wow these are good”). I am in WeChat contact with the QA supervisor (a very nice young lady who has worked with Wessex for a couple years) who is dedicated to ensuring standards are maintained and will ask me if in any doubt on any area.