End of Winter bonus: two unusual styles of 19th C brass…Lehnert Centennial tuba & Schreiber tear drop tuba
Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2025 6:48 am
As a bonus for the last full day of Winter, here are two VERY unusual design configurations of 19th C tubas…..the Lehnert Philadelphia Tear Drop ( or jokingly called ‘Toilet Seat’ tuba) instrument and a Schreiber NY ‘Tear Drop’ tuba.
Henry Lehnert patented his Centennial ( for our nation’s 100th Anniversary...patent issue date Jan. 12, 1875) design for baritones and Eb tubas where the instrument was held by having it on both of your shoulders with your head in the middle and the bell being in front of you.
Louis Schreiber patented ( patent issue date May 7, 1867) his Tear Drop design ….which he made for all voices from Eb cornet down to Eb bass..that was teardrop in design and went over your left shoulder with the bell pointing up. It also had the world’s fanciest ‘spit valve’…an actual rotor used to empty out the condensation. Both Lehnert and Schreiber used string rotary action rotors for their instrument and they were made in brass and nickel silver….
( see Robb Stewart’s article on Lehnert: https://www.robbstewart.com/lehnert-centennial-tuba )
A Lehnert tuba in Eb….3 rotors
Dr Bob Eliason playing on his Lehnert years ago:
A Schreiber tuba in Eb…3 rotors and 1 ‘water key’ rotor
Bandsmen playing Schreiber Tear Drop horns a few years ago in upstate New York…
Henry Lehnert patented his Centennial ( for our nation’s 100th Anniversary...patent issue date Jan. 12, 1875) design for baritones and Eb tubas where the instrument was held by having it on both of your shoulders with your head in the middle and the bell being in front of you.
Louis Schreiber patented ( patent issue date May 7, 1867) his Tear Drop design ….which he made for all voices from Eb cornet down to Eb bass..that was teardrop in design and went over your left shoulder with the bell pointing up. It also had the world’s fanciest ‘spit valve’…an actual rotor used to empty out the condensation. Both Lehnert and Schreiber used string rotary action rotors for their instrument and they were made in brass and nickel silver….
( see Robb Stewart’s article on Lehnert: https://www.robbstewart.com/lehnert-centennial-tuba )
A Lehnert tuba in Eb….3 rotors
Dr Bob Eliason playing on his Lehnert years ago:
A Schreiber tuba in Eb…3 rotors and 1 ‘water key’ rotor
Bandsmen playing Schreiber Tear Drop horns a few years ago in upstate New York…