Tuba obscura

[arpthark]

Let's play a game.

1. Who knows what this is, and (bonus point) who designed it?



2. What is this?



3. What are these linkages called?



4. What is this tuba?

[LeMark]

1.
2. Spatula from an old rotary tuba?
3. Presto
4. 2155R

[York-aholic]

1. Tuba mute?

3. Presto

[arpthark]

Ding ding ding! We've got answers for 1, 3 and 4.

For 2, rotary paddle is close. Look at old Alexanders.

I'll hold off on the bonus answer to #1. @Jperry1466 or @davidgilbreath might know.

arp "slow day" thark

[LeMark]

is # 2 a cog used to adjust the tension on clock springs?

[Rick Denney]

The mute was designed by Walter Sear, and he is pictured demonstrating it in Bevan.

Rick "whose first response to the question about the valve spatulas was 'ugly'" Denney

[arpthark]

The mute was designed by Walter Sear, and he is pictured demonstrating it in Bevan.

Rick "whose first response to the question about the valve spatulas was 'ugly'" Denney

You're very close, Rick! Check your Bevan one more time.

[arpthark]

is # 2 a cog used to adjust the tension on clock springs?

[BRS]

.

[Rick Denney]

The mute was designed by Walter Sear, and he is pictured demonstrating it in Bevan.

Rick "whose first response to the question about the valve spatulas was 'ugly'" Denney

You're very close, Rick! Check your Bevan one more time.

Maybe it was Rex Connor. My books are too disorganized to find that one in any reasonable amount of time. :)

Rick "books subject to spousal organization: by size" Denney

[arpthark]

The mute was designed by Walter Sear, and he is pictured demonstrating it in Bevan.

Rick "whose first response to the question about the valve spatulas was 'ugly'" Denney

You're very close, Rick! Check your Bevan one more time.

Maybe it was Rex Connor. My books are too disorganized to find that one in any reasonable amount of time. :)

Rick "books subject to spousal organization: by size" Denney

That's it! I'll subtract .25 point for the spelling (Conner).

Rex Conner's "spaceship" mute, which he designed in coordination with an acoustics professor at the University of Kentucky, sat in his (well, Skip Gray's, at the time) office during my time at UK and was occasionally tried out on a lark. A really curious thing. Almost a tuba Harmon mute, with tons and tons of backpressure, heavy as heck, felt-covered clips that attached it to the end of your bell -- nothing actually goes inside the bell. Made an interesting sound.

[arpthark]

2 looks like a stop arm (thumb) screw.

3 might be DVS.

I’m on my goofy and tiny phone and can’t see very much.

You got it! It's a thumbscrew to the stop arm on an old Alex. Similar to the ones seen here:



3 is indeed "Presto" linkage made by Miraphone in the late 90s/early aughts.

[LeMark]

Why did I not guess that. I donated a tuba to the tuba museum that had a smaller version of those.

[arpthark]

Why did I not guess that. I donated a tuba to the tuba museum that had a smaller version of those.

Now THAT is a "tuba obscura"! What is it?

[BRS]

.

[LeMark]

https://simonettitubacollection.com/ins ... ve-c-1960/

despite what this link says, there is no way that tuba if from the 1960's. It has to be at least 100 years old

a friend of mine had a tuba collection that was willed to him, but he wasn't a tuba player. I helped him find homes for all of those instruments.

I was about to embark on a long road trip in 2020 and planned on going to the tuba museum, so I offered to take it with me instead of trying to find a buyer for it. It really didn't play well at all and would have been difficult to sell

the day I picked up the tuba from him was the last time I saw him. He passed away from covid a few months later.

[BRS]

.

[Jperry1466]

Rex Conner's "spaceship" mute, which he designed in coordination with an acoustics professor at the University of Kentucky, sat in his (well, Skip Gray's, at the time) office during my time at UK and was occasionally tried out on a lark. A really curious thing. Almost a tuba Harmon mute, with tons and tons of backpressure, heavy as heck, felt-covered clips that attached it to the end of your bell -- nothing actually goes inside the bell. Made an interesting sound.

That is correct; I wish I could remember the name of the acoustics/physics professor at U.K. ( @davidgilbreath will probably remember) I believe it was the same professor who manufactured the Conner mouthpieces (raw brass with a stainless steel screw-on rim - I still have one). Remember, that was 50 years ago. Rex Conner let me take it to my apartment for a weekend once to try it. It played so softly that the next-door neighbors couldn't hear it, but it felt and played no different than playing with no mute, meaning it didn't feel like something was down in the bell. So it was the perfect practice mute, except as I recall, it weighed almost as much as the tuba itself, so extra muscle was required.

[graybach]

https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ece_patents/19/