My monster Eb build.

[LeMark]

Originaly it was a York sousaphone valveset that had a 4th valve grafted to it

[LeMark]

Played for two hours today and decided that a water key was no longer an option. With the MTS stick, it was too difficult to empty

I might get one for the 4th valve too my setup is similar to a king 2341, but with a much larger knuckle

[bloke]

I think you should get one of those gadgety dribble ones with the proprietary little filter that clogs up after a while.

[bloke]

The joy key?

No thanks, I don't want to look like I peed myself every time I stand up

[bloke]

a bunch of updates after a few months

I found a Chronkite bag for it for next to nothing. It was made as a prototype for the conn 56J, but it's in perfect condition. It's a couple of inches too long, but that's ok. Being a sizing prototype, it doesn't have side pockets

Settled on a Schilke 69c4 (for now). The lmiddle and low range is more solid on My Bloke solo, but high F is slightly more secure on the schilke, and my recital has a bunch of them. After the recital I'll probably go back to the Bloke solo

Also, I found a leak in the 4th valve tubing. I put some electrical tape around it for now, but after my recital, I'm going to take care of that. For now, the low register is much more solid

I avoided the monster york Eb's for years because of their reputation for squirrely intonation, and when I built my york, part of the plan was to include a nice long main tuning slide so I could install a MTS stick to adjust for problems.

Now that I've been playing it for a few months, I'm finding very few problems with it. It's a little flat above the staff, so I'm glad I have the stick, but all in all I'm very pleased with it. G at the bottom of the staff is sharp, but if I remember to use 3rd valve, it's not a problem

I still dont think the horn has a "pure" tone, not as focused and clear as a Norwegian star, but it has its own sound, and I guess I shouldn't expect it to sound like a german rotary Eb in the least.

Despite me being a rotor guy my entire life, I'm liking the pistons. The smaller bore gives it a short action feel, and the valves are light like a euphonium

we're a couple weeks away from my recital, I'll update this with a video assuming it turns out in a way I would want to post it for others

[bloke]

good.

[prairieboy1]

Looking forward to hearing you!

[Grumpikins]

I'm really glad you stuck with this horn. Its unique and needs to be accepted and played as such.

I think that we are jaded by perfect recordings on top notch instruments by world class, exceptional musicians. If everyone/horn sounded like that, it would be boring.

Good luck on your recital. I'm sure you'll do great.

Sent from my SM-S367VL using Tapatalk

[LeMark]

link to another thread with related content

viewtopic.php?p=84506#p84506

[Three Valves]

Took the York to @UncleBeer yesterday for him to look at. If anyone can take this thing from good to great, it's him. Since he owns and plays the world's best Eb, He has high standards

He's going to look at the wrap of the 4th valve and see if there is anything that can be done to make it better, it's the only weak part of the way the horn plays, and it may be due to the fact that it's a fairly small bore but with a ton of tubing when I start to play notes like Low F (2-3-4-5)

Still happy with the instrument despite also owning a Norwegian Star, but I'll have to decide later if I'm going to keep both of them. I told Carl yesterday that I didn't know if making further improvements on it would make me more or less likely to sell it. I know I could sell it for more and move it easier if the low range really popped, but it would also make it more fun for me to play.

Plus, It's always nice playing and owning something that you put together yourself

[LeMark]

Got it back yesterday! Could have been sooner, but I was on a 10 day cruise out of NYC

So he took apart part of the 4th valve circuit that bothered me, but I did two want to tackle it myself because of the I wasn't sure how much "nub" there was on the 4th valve to solder onto.

I gave him a whole bag of parts to work with, and he cleaned up that area. He also aligned a few slides better than I had them originally.

The 4th valve seems to play a little freer right now, and it looks better planned out

After Pic is first, then the before Pic

[York-aholic]

Nice

[bloke]

Nice

.. thank

[goldendomer04]

This looks great!

I just scored my own York Eb Monster (3v - top action) and I am deciding what (if anything) I should do to it.

[goldendomer04]

@LeMark - Did you decide to keep both this beauty and the Norwegian Star?

[LeMark]

Yes I have them both. The line up is:
Medium large Eb, monster Eb, paired with a medium Large BBb and a monster Bbb

[bloke]

I wonder how many people are considering the bloke rules about owning tubas.

[LeMark]

I could pair down to two and feel comfortable, I've thought about selling the york, but when you make something yourself you're more sentimental about letting it go

[bloke]

By that you mean to say "I'm", yes,?

[LeMark]

I think that applies to most people