I've been considering adding a fifth valve to my King, but that might push it to the point of needing valve plating, which I could do if I stopped putting off setting up the equipment I already have. I found myself using the King so much, I jumped at the chance to pick up a Paxman 42M that Bob Osmun offered my at a price that made it a no brainer. The Paxman has the F attachment on the sixth valve (4th paddle).
From your conversion of the stopping valve to a transposing valve, can I make the assumption you also find the stopping valve pretty useless? I liken the stopping valve to a fire extinguisher. It looks cool and 'responsible', but its only vital if I don't use my brain, and let an emergency come up. Hans has some strong, and valid, criticism for playing everything on the Bb side of a double horn, but the F attachment, and extra weight of my Paxman make it much more suitable as a full range horn for general playing. I bought a really beat up Reynolds Contempora single F with the idea of using it as a source of rebuilt valves for my King. Reynolds valves are a cut above other commercial rotors, and always respond well to just tightening the bearings. I wanted to find a second carcass and build a new four or five valve cluster for the King, with the lever on a 4th paddle, similar to the Paxman. However, with some dents removed the Contempora single F is a nice playing horn and my wife and I often play duets with the King Bb on first and the single F on second. Not only is it a good match, she's finally learning the reactions needed to play both F and Bb full range. One thing I find is that a high quality single F horn is completely different from the F side of a high quality double horn. Likewise, a good Bb is a totally different beast from either my Double Bb Paxman or my full double concert horn. I agree with Hans that the basis for correct tonality is the F horn, with its complex upper partials. I would never start a student on a single Bb, and would expect them to work to performance level on a piece at the difficulty of, say, movement 2 of Mozart 3, before switching them to a double. The question then becomes what is the basis of the F tonality you want to emulate. The simplest reasonable answer is to put the F standard on the horn your playing. Thus, my conclusion that the F attachment is much more essential than the stopping valve. I would add a further criterion that the Bb horn should be able to sound like a good F horn when played in open F tuning.
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