TubaForum.net

https://ebay.us/m/YurMka

So, is that a 5 valve euphonium? Has anyone here played one? Seems like it could be a lot lighter to transport, but it would need to play down to at least BBb to be useful for most of us?

My, what a big spatula brace you have on your leadpipe Grandma Couesnon!

(and i am entertained that it is somehow converted to Monopoly rather than Monopole.

But in all fairness, Monopole is their professional grade instruments. If it is in okay condition, it should be fun to play and produce a satisfying sound, assuming you can manage intonation.

This is a five-valve French CC tuba. Yes, it looks a little like a euphonium, especially modern instruments with too-large bores. They come in either five-valve, such as this one, or six-valves with additional downward extension of range.

iiipopes wrote: Sat Dec 13, 2025 10:01 am This is a five-valve French CC tuba. Yes, it looks a little like a euphonium, especially modern instruments with too-large bores. They come in either five-valve, such as this one, or six-valves with additional downward extension of range.

I don’t know, the supporting documentation/repair slip says Sib (Bb) and it has an awful long leadpipe MTS loop before the valves. Based on that, I wonder if it has a shorter C tuning slide.

Edit: further investigation of the 1912 Couesnon catalog indeed shows a Monopole “basse en sib ou ut avec 5 pistons” (bass in Bb or C with 5 pistons). I assume that it had interchangeable slides and the version pictured on eBay has the longer Bb slide inserted. But yes, very much in the French 8-9’ tuba tradition.

Edit edit: the one on eBay seems to have an extension tube in, which is removable and you could then tune it to C.

Well, that's weird. I have a Couesnon Monopole 4v Bb that is, for sure, a saxhorn basse. Also with C/Bb alternative tubing; I have only the Bb.

The present instrument is different, to my eye, and I'd say more euphonium. Never heard of this valve setup with a euphonium, but the bell is much more conical. Where the saxhorn taper is more gradual from the bell back through the bottom bow etc.

The valve caps on mine thread into the casing, not around it, which I like.

I think the one pictured also has the valve slides set to "C" length (i.e., they look too short to my eye). I wonder if there are hash marks or similar that show you how far to pull them out so that they are better suited for Bb.

Donn, yes, I think your horn is also in the catalog under a separate heading but shares the model number (and the basse designation). Correcting my previous post, the 5 valve bass is actually available in "Bb or in Bb and C." So, there is a Bb version that does not have the interchangeability and has a more convention tuning slide after the valve section, which is what is pictured in the catalog. The image is scanned poorly but here you go:

I like the loop that goes in front of the valve set, sandwiching it with the upper bow.

Nut i suppose i'm diverging from the thread topic, as that's not the one for sale...

For a side by side example - Confinement #1 - The Sound Of Silence (Euphonium & Saxhorn).
Confinement #2 - Led Zeppelin (Euphonium & Saxhorn)

(I'm sticking with "that's a euphonium, even if the bell is distorted by the wide angle photo"; euphonium represented here by a 4V, and the saxhorn is the 5V.)