I have a recording bell 3-valve comp (worn piston plating) Besson B-flat that's probably from the early 60s or sometime around then. I have a really excellent condition 70s 3+1 valve section to transplant onto it. (It's not very high priority upgrade for me...) The 24 inch thick gauge bell makes it ...

Three-valve compensating: It's high time it is brought back for school tubas and euphoniums. Indeed. For me, even though it was built like a tank, the best school band tuba is a Besson New Standard 17-inch bell 3-valve comp tuba. Mine progressively fell apart on me and every two weeks I was having ...

bloke wrote: ↑Tue Nov 12, 2024 4:48 pm That sounds like it could have been a great Three Stooges filming opportunity.

Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!

I don't know about brass instruments, but the last time I changed and bled the brake fluid on my previous convertible about thirty-five years ago, by the time my friend and I were done, I felt like my lacquer had been stripped. Yes, being my car, I was the lucky one to be under the car with a claw ...

I did that a few years ago for a couple of seasons. All I can say is that once you find a horn, get a Wick Ultra 6 in the shank size that fits the horn (BBB "baritone" for American instruments, "euph" if it is an upright bell euph that is modeled after a Besson or equivalent). The Wick Ultra 6 is ...

All the above. To corrupt the line out of Hamlet: "Get thee, to a teachery."

It took me a long time to realize that the people who say "it's the size of the hole in your face" were right. Brass suddenly became easy; the only strength I need (other than to be the Air Bellows) is to maintain that hole's shape. I'm sure my lips vibrate, but I'm not buzzing them. You're right ...

The simple answer is to ask Gilbert Spiteri of K&G mouthpieces, who has an engineering degree, and who uses his degree to design and build mouthpieces according to accepted principals of physics. Not myth, not derivatives of traditional designs, or anything else. Physics. The answer without all the ...

Probably an Asian copy of a 24AW.

I had an uncle that always worn shiny white shoes and a white leather belt back in the day… Uncle Joe...?? Isn't he going to arguing with some young guy, tonight? https://s1.dmcdn.net/v/SSCdy1Xg52ziSnvF8/x1080 Didn't just about every guy's female family members in 1974-5 buy him these for clothing g ...

Looks like the dent repair was attempted by an autobody man. Hmmm. I wonder how bondo affects tone and intonation?

bloke wrote: ↑Fri Oct 04, 2024 12:05 pm Mr. Geib was born in Germany in the early 1870's, so why did he play a C tuba...Was he handicapped or something?

Could it have something to do with his years with Philly & the New York Phil & Radio City Music Hall?

"Geib" being of German derivation, I agree with the vowel pronunciation points listed above. But how about the final consonant: isn't a final "b" in German pronounced more like a "p"? Then again, the final authority is the man himself. Is there anybody out there who knows/remembers/anecdotes about ...

Are the JK mouthpieces the Executive or the Excutive Classic?

Kansas City? The receptacle in the background disagrees… https://everything-everywhere.com/electrical-outlets-around-world/ That’s a Type A receptacle. USA has been Type B for some time (decades) and those in the photo are not up to code. Adding to that, the finish on the walls isn’t typical of US c ...

If you can find a used Wick 1 (no letter is the original British smaller shank), that is the mouthpiece that was designed for all these large .730 bore BBb tubas: comp, non-comp, conventional bell, recording bell. Huge tone, great intonation.

I also had a similar era 3-valve comp Besson New Standard some years ago. I tried everything to get a usable privilege tone Eb. The problem is that the compensating valve loops are simply in the wrong place and stifle the anti-node necessary to resonate the pitch. The only thing I thought of is like ...

PM sent on the Herco

No knob on the bottom; upright bell. I’m used to a horn that I read off the right side instead of the left, and it’s amazing how much that is messing up my sightline. I do peer through the tubing to look at the conductor between selections. When I had my New Standard 3-valve Comp, I was the opp ...

Back when I was in high school (1990s), we had silver King sousas, all refurbished. Two of them were H.N. White - era originals. We used them for outdoor field (football games, competitions, parades) AND for indoor concert band. They sounded glorious inside the auditorium within the large concert ...