Among other things, I'm a professional brass tech. That someone would ask $350 to stick a borescope up a valve section in order to make a few marks is just embarrassing. Yikes. That's a 15 minute job.

The French tuba is of course a saxhorn despite what others might say. It is a "saxhorn basse en Ut" in fact.

This topic certainly seems to 'trigger' some of the TNFJ.

donn wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2024 5:22 pm to my eye this Wessex seems to have a fatter bell.

This instrument is a very accurate copy of my 1931 Couesnon French tuba, so is typical of the authentic genre. And ... French tubas are by definition 'saxhorns'. No idea what Roland was playing.

IMHO, the best way to showcase the unique qualities of the French tuba is in the mid- and lower ranges; something like Franck D minor for instance. When adding so much straight pipe (aka: valves), the instrument essentially becomes a cylindrical bore instrument, and as a result, blends really well ...

C'mon bloke. Finale is dead. Moribund. Big dirt nap. Assumed room temperature. Shuffled off this mortal coil.

Tony, if the pistons are hanging, go to an experienced tech and see what he has to say. In my experience, the causes are either filth in the horn (doesn't take much), or mechanical problems (torquing of the valveset somewhere, etc.). Worth checking out before you needlessly flee to rotors.

I was at the ZO plant last summer, and they dared me to try to break their plastic tuba (no kidding!). So I did. Didn't take much trying. I've been a tech for awhile, and don't know how I'd go about repairing/replacing this. Zo1_1_11zon.jpg And here's the owner of ZO, goodnaturedly mugging with the ...

Oktoberfest starts early in the Great State of Texas.

Liver of sulfur + a variety of added chemicals can make an assortment of patinas for you. Just google.

Get you some Yamaha springs. I put them in all my piston tubas and they make a world of difference for me. A quick word about those Yamaha plastic-sheathed springs. The plastic eventually shreds off the springs and jams up your valves. Here's a spring I replaced for a well-known player whose valves ...

Only for 'tuba studs': here's something that was briefly under development.

But the software (?) looks interesting to me and I'd be interested in who wrote it, because that's where the knowledge came from, having had both a Lawson mouthpiece and bell make noticeable significant changes to my Schmid horn's sound, response, intonation, and slotting. One of the developers ...

Anyone have a link to a fingering chart for a CC 5V with the old fashioned two whole step 5th? Asking for a friend...

Anybody know of actual scientific research on this yielding measurable data? This hardware/software package allows physical modeling of real-world instruments. You can get an idea of tuning, response, and resonance from the results you input. It's pretty amazing (yes, I own one). https://www.artim ...

The set I bought from them about 30 years ago goes up to 25.65mm, so more than an inch. Good investment: you can draw leadpipes and smaller conical pipes, as well as de-ovalize tubes that folks have mandhandled.

https://www.metricmetal.com/product/brass/round-tube-brass/brass-round-tube-272/ https://www.harfington.com/collections/brass-tubing-c-301703?pickers=%257B%2522Outer%2520diameter%2522%253A%255B%252219mm%2522%255D%257D&cateId=301703&isFilterSoldout=0 https://www.aliexpress.com/i/2255801038927090.html ...

Inner diameter? Outer diameter?

The old guys would never think of this. They took a nap when they got to the hotel, ate dinner, got on the bus for the performance, arrived with 25 minutes before downbeat, got dressed, sipped coffee and planned that night's drinking spot, went on stage where their horn was and played a tuning note ...

bloke wrote: ↑Thu Aug 15, 2024 8:26 am ...with a trombone type of sound....

They don't make a trombone type sound. I mean, you can overpower any type of brass instrument to get that overdriven sound (witness: Roger Bobo), but that's a choice.

Before condemning *all* travel tubas, give the ZO "little dragons" a honk. They come in F, Eb, CC and BBb. No matter how wonky they look, they actually play pretty well and sound 'tuba-esque' (something the others can't claim). Here's a clip I found of someone playing the Eb ZO. https://youtu.be ...