5-valve-inline Alexander 163 CC converted to conventional thumb 5th valve

[arpthark]

near non sequitur:

If I ever get down to the Riviera des Ploucs - and visit with Monsieur Strykérre,
I'd like to play his Alex BB-flat.

I had a chance to toot on a 164 this summer. Pretty awesome.

If I can ever get my hands on a 163 BBb, that might turn me into a full time BBb convert (instead of just a half-time BBb sousaphone convert).

[bloke]

I don't want to put Terry on the spot, but I passed up on an opportunity to play a B-flat Alex a long time ago that was bought new in the 1960s. (Actually, it belonged to James Barnes, the band music composer.) I would just like to play one of the regular size ones (and not one of the "kaiser" ones) and check out the B-flat intonation tendencies. Since the older C versions seem to be sort of crudely shortened from the B-flat versions, I can't help but wonder if the B-flat versions' tuning tendencies aren't as squirrely...(??)
Regarding Jim's Alexander B-flat, I remember Rich Matteson borrowing it to play a concert, spending about 0 minutes getting used to playing it, picking it up and using it on one or two tunes - soloing in front of a big band, and just playing the holy you-know-what out of it (as if it was the easiest-to-play tuba in the world... which I'm pretty certain it was not).

[Heavy_Metal]

Wonder if Professor Barnes wrote his Third Symphony using that Alex?

[the elephant]

I miss my 163 all the time. What a freaking sound that beast could toss out into the hall…

[bloke]

Wonder if Professor Barnes wrote his Third Symphony using that Alex?

sorta doubt that he "used" it, but he was - primarily - a tuba player.
He also owned an Alex F, I'm seeming to remember...

I do remember him discussing many (no specific ones) of his colleagues as (people with fancy titles who offer forth supposedly serious compositions, yet) paraphrased: lacking the skills to compose a 64-bar piece in 4/4 time in B-flat major for four saxophones.

[arpthark]

Linkage, linkage, linkage. This tuba is at about 80% of the way to where I want it to be. Sound-wise and response-wise, it is in the running for the best horn I've played. When the correct buttons are smashed, beautiful sound really wants to come out. As to be expected, it does take a lot of air, and intonation requires a couple alternates but nothing mind-bending. As far as Alex CC tubas go, I've definitely played ones with worse intonation.

Here's where I'm at with it right now:

- The clocksprings are a little stiff, and the paddles are short, which doesn't lend a lot of mechanical advantage. Short-term, I've considered soldering coins to the paddles. Long-term, I definitely want to get a new set of Alexander paddles, a carriage bar and a set of unibal/minibal/3B (whatever they use now) linkage.

- The fifth valve circuit is too long. It's more of a flat major third. A shorter circuit to provide in-tune 235 low F would be nice. The circuit is constructed in such a way that I am pretty sure I can cut a half inch off each side of a crook that attaches to a ferrule and put it back together without a lot of hassle.

- The fifth valve linkage is a rather long throw. This could be addressed in the near-future by my repairman, but I will probably just hold out and wait for the OEM Alex stuff to arrive.

Were the above things addressed, the tuba would tip the needle from "very good" to "excellent." Oh yeah, and I need to finish converting all of the bumpers to neoprene. I've currently only got 2 out of 5 valves done, having addressed the most clanky/dry-rotted cork, but the more I play it, the more the rest of the old cork is getting compressed, too, so that chore will need to be carved out at some point.

[Oedipoes]

Oh yeah, and I need to finish converting all of the bumpers to neoprene. I've currently only got 2 out of 5 valves done, having addressed the most clanky/dry-rotted cork, but the more I play it, the more the rest of the old cork is getting compressed, too, so that chore will need to be carved out at some point.

I like NBR rubber bumpers so far...
I have used a std hydraulic NBR O-ring material (like 70 shore hardness) for the onstroke, and softer NBR 45 shore on the return stroke.
Works well on my kaiser tuba!
The NBR 45 is the material that is offered as rotary valve bumper material on the Thomann website.

I had used the harder material on both sides on my Norwegian Star before (to replace the worn corks), which works wel too, but a bit noisier...

[arpthark]

Oh yeah, and I need to finish converting all of the bumpers to neoprene. I've currently only got 2 out of 5 valves done, having addressed the most clanky/dry-rotted cork, but the more I play it, the more the rest of the old cork is getting compressed, too, so that chore will need to be carved out at some point.

I like NBR rubber bumpers so far...
I have used a std hydraulic NBR O-ring material (like 70 shore hardness) for the onstroke, and softer NBR 45 shore on the return stroke.
Works well on my kaiser tuba!
The NBR 45 is the material that is offered as rotary valve bumper material on the Thomann website.

I had used the harder material on both sides on my Norwegian Star before (to replace the worn corks), which works wel too, but a bit noisier...

I misspoke; I am also using NBR (also called "Buna-N") O-ring rubber. Not sure of the hardness and I'm using the same stuff for both strokes, but it definitely beats metal-on-metal clacking and is pretty easily trimmed to proper alignment with a razor blade.