Ah, but on all Martin Mammoths except the very early ones, the lead pipe has the two bits (aka articulated lead pipe) that can be adjusted to change the angle.

I seem to be running far behind schedule as usual.

King upright bell:
19” diameter
Height: 13.5” w/tenon
12.25” w/o tenon (ie if you unsoldered the tenon from the bell.

My thoughts:

-the more a tuba (Jeep, hot rod, etc) is customized to be exactly what it’s owner wants, the smaller the pool becomes of people for whom that tuba appeals enough to purchase. This is regardless of whether the modifications are good, useful, beneficial. A bone stock Jeep is appealing to ...

Little Red Riding Hood said, “Grandma, what a big bell you have!”

Just play the Dvorak cello part really quietly!

Does anyone have a lead pipe for/from a new style (fixed upright bell) King 2341 that they’d consider selling?

I have 3 from the older detachable bell tubas, each having different bends/curves. I’ve put a bell on that has a wider throat than the stock bell stack and am thinking the new style’s lead ...

Tubajug wrote: Thu May 08, 2025 6:51 pm Sweet sassy molasses! Now THAT is a tuba!

It’s a tuba and a half

6/4 = 3/2 = 1 1/2

Three Valves wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 6:44 pm The other left!

Right!

A Holton 345 bell (with some trimming off the small end) will net you a one piece, fixed upright bell that is very, very similar in profile to the original Martin fixed upright bells. :laugh:

In which case, one of the bells that @Bloke has imported might also be a good match, either for a one ...

I'll measure when I get home tonight.

If no one has responded with the measurement by the time I get home tonight, I'll measure the upright bell I have and post it.

There were a couple of families of high school tuba players in my area looking for instruments for their kids. Graduating seniors who were not going to be studying music in college but wanted to keep playing... I pointed this horn out to all of them.. since Dayton is only 45 minutes away... none ...

I recently played a piece (instantly forgettable) where it is written in each part things like “theme 1”, “exposition”, “theme 1 development”, “recapitulation”.

I instantly thought of the old saying, ‘if you have to explain your joke, it isn’t funny’.

Never has there been a group of musicians with more frozen main tuning slides. Personally, my main tuning slide was fiddled with when the horn came out of its shipping crate in 1999 and not touched for 14 years until my retirement.


I do believe this is my favorite post ever posted to this forum ...

1 Ton Tommy Of all the old American Eb tubas, I’ve felt like the Martin Medium (17” bell) tubas were the most in tune, however I haven’t played one of Martin’s Monsters (20-21” bell). The first Medium I had (a 3+1) was scary in tune.

Is yours a Medium or a Monster? If Medium, is the fourth played ...

Why couldn’t this be within a day’s drive of me?

Is that too much to ask?


Apparently, anyplace in the U.S. can be a one day drive. @arpthark can be your co-driver. :teeth:

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a33656042/cannonball-record-broken-25-hours-39-minutes-from-nyc-to-la ...

Yep.

Looks to be in great shape.

I’ll say it’s pretty needy. Having a 26” bell on a .656 bore Eb Sousaphone screams “Hey Look At ME!”

bloke wrote: Thu Apr 24, 2025 7:15 pm I just figured out how I was able to get so far with this thing today:

I totally ignored every bit of paperwork that I meant to do today, including sending someone a payment and submitting three quotes.

Works every time!

After our 2003 fires the Santa Ana winds really kicked up and we had a big oak tree snap off about 6-8’ off the ground, probably 30” at the break and land on the house. I could have cut it but any slippage would have destroyed a porch roof and the dog fence.

We called the tree company to crane it ...