Large Eb tubas -- front action, upright bell

[bloke]

Having played Adams instruments a few times - thus being aware of the type of resonance they offer, I stumbled across a stupidly low priced (old-like-new) stencil of a Meinl-Weston (actually, a stencil of the 5 series, which is a considerable improvement over the 4 series - though B&S is hardly making these anymore, because Buffet is busy promoting Besson).
The sound/response/overall accessibility is extremely reminiscent of Adams. The instrument does call for alternate fingerings on three pitches (no trigger), and I paid so little for it that I am too embarrassed to boast the amount here.
That having been said, in a case here - for over two decades - has sat one of the “other“ Swiss euphoniums – the tooling of which was purchased to make the Adams instruments. That instrument is just about cosmetically perfect, but was received with all of the valves and slides missing. Mr. H., Jr. sold me all of the valves and slides for it many years ago, but I’ve never spent the 2 to 3 days required to fit them to the instrument… Silly me... I need to get that instrument up-and-running, and decide whether to replace the M-W stencil with it, or to sell it.

[LeMark]

My other plan was to see if you would assemble and sell me the Hirsbrunner.

[bloke]

I have made a bit of progress – over the last couple of years or so – in both selling off some unfinished and lost-interest-in projects, as well as repairing instruments that need restoration work and getting those sold. Progress is slow (though “slow” is an improvement over the previous speed), because everyone’s else repairs are dangled in my face, and I just really can’t say no - when the money is quicker and surer.

[bort2.0]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Have a few ideas from here. I will not be buying a tuba made in China, though. Suffice it to say, we all make our own choices. And that is my choice.

[LeMark]

That rotary Willson looks very attractive. You could buy it and have a 5th valve added fairly easily as the budget allows.

Short of a monster Eb coming available that has already been upgraded with a 5th valve, I'm not sure much is going to be out there unless you get very luck

I love the Norwegian Star, but I'm not sure I would call it a LARGE Eb at least compared to the Willson.

It might be worth it to Contact Norm Epley (king of the Frankentuba) and see if he has any projects he has for sale

[Ace]

I can't even imagine what this thing would sound like.

E.Winston Tuba Eb Made in USA Boston ,Serial # J 27184 Excellent | eBay

Ace

[Sousaswag]

Bort, fwiw,

Had I not just had a great opportunity to purchase a like-new older Willson 3200 (VERY similar to Wade’s Kurath) for a steal, I would probably have that rotary 3400 now. It looks to me that there’s PLENTY of room to add a 5th valve with the amount of open leadpipe length there, and for a tuba of that quality, great price that I’ll bet you could make an offer on. It would probably be the best Eb in that price range for you, and you’d probably be happy without a 5th valve for some time. Not only that, but the “cool factor” of that tuba being so rare would be a fun story to tell!

[bort2.0]

^ Thanks!

It's a great looking tuba for sure! Just over budget!

Shipping from NJ, buying a gig bag, and the (to me, necessary) valve adaptation by Martin Wilk would put it closer to $7k in the end.

By that point, I should just keep going and buy Rob Ross's gold brass 188 and be done.

[jtm]

... By that point, I should just keep going and buy Rob Ross's gold brass 188 and be done.

Rob's front action Eb 188?

[bort2.0]

... By that point, I should just keep going and buy Rob Ross's gold brass 188 and be done.

Rob's front action Eb 188?

I mean, scrap all plans and just buy a Miraphone 188.

[Ricardo]

Having owned several compensating and 1 front action Eb tuba I would say I am fairly experienced with them. I ended up converting my Norwegian star to 6 valves, just because with only 5 valves there were too many gaps in the low range. If I had a compensating Eb I would want some sort of trigger for the 4th or 3rd valve so, as bloke says, it doesn’t run out of gas in the low range. You might want to have something in the budget for that type of modification.

The Yamaha compensating Eb would probably be quite good, I think they have shorter action valves as compared to the Bessons and probably easier to get spares for them if you need to modify them for a trigger and need an original part to reverse any modifications should you decide to sell it.

Why do you want an Eb tuba? If you want to play solos and orchestral music I found the F tuba a much better instrument for those genres. But as a brass band person who mostly plays Bb tuba I found the Eb the logical second tuba.

[LargeTuba]

I gotta disagree. So far I've not liked traditional compensated Eb tubas. I've given it a college try (I.E I've owned 3 different models) and they were all meh to sucky.

My Yamaha YEB321 is great though, I have no problem with low F even with only 4 valves. 23 plays a great low E.

I think there's a 5 valve one in the for sale section right now.

[bloke]

Ricardo is my brother from another mother.

The topic is “front action“, but so many 3+1 instruments have been mentioned that I will remind anyone interested that making certain that the #3 compensating slide (on the back) is really long, is another workaround for the four valve compensating system “running out of gas”. It’s not as perfect a solution as a trigger, but it is an easier solution than a trigger. So many of these slides on E-flat tubas are just too short.

As far as Yamaha is concerned, the best compensating E-flat that they ever made was their first one - which they have abandoned. I’m thinking the model was called YEB-631. Their subsequent models are disappointing, to me.

[JRaymo]

Anything E-flat that's 5-valve non-compensating is probably going to define a frantic #4 slide pull every time "low F" (which appears in written tuba music quite often) appears.

Even quite a few of the 4-valve compensating E-flats feature compensating #3 slides which are inadequately short.

Also, polling others - re: "which models are the best" - mostly seems to result in encouraging those - who have instruments for sale - to speak up.

ie: "What is the best ________" is a textbook Freak Jury question.

bloke " 'Low F' - and easily playing it in tune - seems pretty important, to me."

I pull the 3rd valve slide for low F on my willson. My horn came with the 5th valve slide extension which I don't use. I should experiment with it to see if there are any advantaged to it. Without that slide and 5th as a whole step I play low F 5,2,3,4 with a pull on the 3rd valve slide it plays in tune nicely. The 4th valve slide may be more effective but its not as easily reached and 3rd works fine for me.

[Doc]

My stand mate in one of my bands just purchased a used BMB 4+1 Eb in pristine condition. I had a chance to play it, and it was a VERY nice instrument that made a highly attractive sound. Maybe a 16.5" bell? I liked it plenty. Maybe he'll let me review it soon. I was very surprised how well it played and felt. If you see one, you should consider it as a possibility. Unfortunately, the BMB Eb is quite rare (as is the Gronitz 4+1 Eb, which is another nice Eb to consider).

[Tuba1153]

@UncleBeer had one in his shop a few months ago for sale. Not sure if he still does or not. It was a good tuba, I included it in my Eb shootout video

[Doc]

@UncleBeer had one in his shop a few months ago for sale. Not sure if he still does or not. It was a good tuba, I included it in my Eb shootout video

That's the one he bought.

[UncleBeer]

That's a good instrument!

[bort2.0]

I have a lead on a local Miraphone Norwegian Star Light... Over budget, but a nice horn for sure. Also a little concerned that I'd be happier with the larger Norwegian Star. But, thinking about it

[LeMark]

It's a small tuba. Nimble, but small.