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I mean, should I attach some extra mass to keep the tuba from losing energy out the sides instead of out the bell?

Is this one of the classic questions, like Bb vs C?

When I played sousaphone, if I couldn't make the bell ring, I felt it was a bad horn. I don't know if that really made for a better horn or not, I just know what made me feel better about myself.

I wouldn't worry about it. Trombones went through a period of "tone tumors" for a while, with people attaching things to the bell to make it resonate differently.

There is always going to be some vibration of the instrument.

I tried a Kaiser Cerveny once that resonated so much, I thought it would fall apart. It didn't... But I didn't care foe that feeling

I use 3 heavy caps on my 601 because I think it gives it more core. I tried them on my smaller CC and I thought it made the horn play tight.

I used 4 on my piggy, took them off one time, and couldn't get them back on fast enough.. They really helped that horn

LeMark wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 6:59 pm I use 3 heavy caps on my 601 because I think it gives it more core. I tried them on my smaller CC and I thought it made the horn play tight.

I used 4 on my piggy, took them off one time, and couldn't get them back on fast enough.. They really helped that horn

Caps? Not capacitors, I assume.

Heavy valve caps. Nickel plated steel, about a half pound each.

LeMark wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 7:11 pm Heavy valve caps. Nickel played steel, about a half pound each. I'll post a picture if you are interested

I can imagine them. Thanks.

For my tuba, I don't feel anything in the valves, just the bows and the wide tubing below the bell. Doesn't seems to be a problem, though there's a subtle ringing after a note stops.

Those are impressive.

Honestly I dont think they need to be so heavy. If I was to make them all over again I would probably make them half as thick

But they do make a difference, it's very obvious both playing and listening. If the change is an improvement is in the ears of the listener (or the mind of the player)

I don't think they are needed on every tuba, but for some reason they really help the 835 bore cerveny tubas.


I also have a tendency to add a heavy leather wrap to every rotor horn I've ever owned, not just for comfort, but I think it deadens the bell a bit, which on the cerveny tubas is a good thing

LeMark wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 7:11 pm Heavy valve caps. Nickel plated steel, about a half pound each.

Are those semi-truck lug nuts? Charlie Krause told me that I needed to attach 4 of those to the caps on my 187 that I used to have with Shoe-Goo. Since I know someone who has his own machine shop in his garage AND already has a section of round steel I bought him for a mouthpiece project he never started, I figure he could do me some weights.

I made a prototype out of steel nuts, but then for production I got a long steel hex bar, and cross sectioned it.

Heavy valve caps are a pretty regular thing to see on trumpets and euphonium. Probably not so much on tubas as they already weigh a lot. Adding or removing weight to change the resonance will always be a nice and easy way to fine tune how an instrument plays.

Look at Edwards Trombones: they literally designed a brace you could screw a bunch of different "harmonic pillars" into.

Once upon a time it was in vogue to wrap a belt around your bell, or so I hear. My teacher wasn't particularly impressed. Many of the things we do are only noticeable to the player.

LeMark wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 7:54 pm I made a prototype out of steel nuts, but then for production I got a long steel hex bar, and cross sectioned it.

Mark, how tall are those?

About 3/4"

You might experiment with different things to see if there’s a difference. Heavy caps, lead tape... stuff that isn’t permanent.

I like it when I take the Hagen below low Bb - you feel the presence/vibration/resonance in the air around you. I’m not sure I’d like to have a strong, distinct kind of feedback through the valves and paddle assembly.

When I spent some time playing the Wessex Prokofiev, the vibrations were in the air, in me, in my feet/floor, and it was not an unpleasant feedback.

I don’t think you can tame the Prokofiev, and I’m not sure why you would want to. Maybe you don’t need to tame your tuba? Your sensory experience could be deceiving under the bell. Maybe the thing is one big vibration station like the Prokofiev. Have you tried recording it? If you try some add-ons, you might record before and after to take player perception out of the equation.

LeMark wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:14 pmAbout 3/4"

Thanks! I'll be giving my friend a call.

Meinl-Weston tubas used to come with a soft plastic ring around the bell that seemed to cut out some of the ringing (like the belt around the bell mentioned above). On mine, it kept some of my notes (like 3rd line D) from responding as easily as the other notes. Now that I have a Mack 410, I wanted to cut out some of the ringing as well as have a bell rim protector. I made one from 3/16" clear plastic tubing from the hardware store. Lots of cutting and fitting involved. It seemed to make no difference in note response on the Mack.

So, feeling the horn vibrate when I play is a bad thing?