Main tuning slide that I had piece together. I decided to just patch the water key hole. I really dont care for them anyway. I just pull and dump. I still need to make braces for it. I made the patch a diamond shape so it kind of looks like it belongs there. My soldering sucks, but that was part of ...

Patch on bottom bow back side. Where the hole was, it was crushed in like it had been bolted to a beam. I think it had been hung as there was a perfect ring around the hole from a washer on a bolt. I got it pushed out and smoothed enough for a patch. The other visible dents just wouldn't come out. h...

Patch on bottom bow front side and dents mostly removed. This side was crushed in as though a 4x4 board landed on it.

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Here it is so far.

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I think this discussion should also include the bore size of the tuba, and the era/age of the horn. The eb horn I'm working on was manufactured around 1920. The bore size is .633 (if I remember correctly, it's been a while since I measured it). Its definitely a small shank size as the blessing 18 is...

Very intently following this conversation as I have just gotten my Eb project tuba playing. I currently have a tuba exchange Rose mouthpiece that is basically a larger version of a conn helberg 120. A Blessing 18. And an old modified conn helberg 120. So far, the blessing seems to work the best but ...

The eb horn I'm working on was in similar condition. The surface texture of the tarnish is like coarse sandpaper. I've just been going at it with scotch brite pads. I'm not trying to polish the horn to a glossy shine, just clean it up. I actually like the matte look anyway. So I really dont have a b...

Back to the original post, Wonderful work digging up that history. It's really interesting to read about the things people did way back when. Thank you.

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Looks great.

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Spread out of course.

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I have been enjoying cigars all of my adult life. They are not good for you, but numerous studies have not been able to show a significant difference between lifetime cigar smokers and non smokers. https://www.rstreet.org/commentary/fda-study-cancer-risks-nearly-nil-for-1-2-cigars-per-day/ I smoke a...

I was practicing my king Bb last night and I couldn't resist the desire to try out the Cleveland Eb. So I stuck it all together and plugged all the spots that need to be soldered. Wow. Notes really slot easily. The tone is warm and rich. Not dark like my Cc, but not bright like a trombone. Very colo...

I could possibly be tempted to swap my Cc tuba with one of those horns. But I would rather have it repaired as needed and just spot lacquered. Im ok with some dings and scratches. Silver looks amazing, but tarnish sucks! My other half automatically says No! Like you and Lemark, I have been playing B...

My local region has become a real dead zone for music in general. At least for adult amature musicians. Even rock bands and djs. To join a DCA corps, the closest option looked to be a 3 hr drive. I would really love to see more musical options locally available. Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk

Just looked that up courtesy of your link. Also, new to me. Sounds like a nice opportunity. The mini corps was appealing to me because its restricted to drum corps instrumentation, limited marching on a specifically sized stage. The drum corps sound and energy is still there, but in a smaller packag...

Really sad to see DCA discontinue. Another unfortunate sign of the times.

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Yesterday I discovered that for 2024, DCI is introducing a new class for competition. It's an "All ages" class. Also, that DCA is being absorbed into DCI. I have mixed feelings about this arrangement. New to me, begun around 2000, DCA held a "mini corps" competitive class. Small ...

Agreed. Most of the time, Tuba players are a different breed. Kind, supportive, mellow. It's what we do down on the bottom of the pile.

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I've watched the sousaphone players in our band.. on and off the field...there's little to no instruction on how to handle, use, assemble, pack the instruments..... they really get left to figure it out on their own....the instructors are wonderful, but as a collective, certain things get overlooked...

My break was about 13 years with picking up my horn maybe once a year. It really only took a couple weeks of practicing to be able to keep up in an hour and a half rehearsal. Endurance was low and still is, a year and a half later. But I'm still not playing enough. However, I'm 43 not 63. I'm sure t...