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Besides using a stand, how does one raise a tuba to be better aligned for playing? When I place it on my legs, it slips frequently and is really too high to play. When I sit it between my legs on a chair, it’s too low and requires me to crunch forward to play it. A three or four inch foam block would work well, I think, but is there a more elegant solution?

I use a shoulder strap on each of my horns, adjusted to work best in sitting rather than standing position.
That way both my hands are free to move slides, grab the pencil for on-the-fly notes or take a sip of water.

This provides comfort as well as a feeling of safety: I can just let go of the horn and don´t need to worry about a €10.000-plus- fragile object hitting the ground or my section mates in ways I don´t approve of, while I may be distracted by sorting through music / whatever. "THE DAY OF THE BUMP" is closer than one thinks...

I’ve sold MANY tubas for this reason. Sometimes it’s possible to raise the mouthpipe, but if the horn is too pretty or too expensive, you’re better off selling it and trying something else.

Less elegant solution: hockey puck.

arpthark wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 6:44 am Less elegant solution: hockey puck.

Less elegant, but certainly sneaky! No one would know!

Change the left/right angle at which I'm holding it, change whether it is resting forward on my thighs or closer to my abdomen on my thighs, move it up from the chair seat to resting on top of me.

I use a telephoto lens pouch. There are many sizes available so you should be able to find something that will work. I fill it with rice in a ZipLoc bag.

I started using a piece of grippy rubber mesh - the kind of stuff that you put under rugs to keep them from slipping - on my left thigh and it's greatly improved my comfort and stability. I have like a 6x10" piece. Doesn't raise it, but makes my preferred grip/position work better for me.

This shelf liner stuff is very good for the slipperiness if otherwise it's ok. Even with the bow resting on the chair, I put a piece of this on my left thigh because otherwise it wants to slide, tilting more and more to my left and I have to keep shifting it back. The shelf liner keeps it in place. Lots of tuba players use that as a long strip across their lap, and just set the bow in the middle.

Lot of good solutions already, but a good playing stand, adjusted to the proper height, works well. An old Baltimore Brass Co. stand is what I use, but the K&M stands are also supposed to be good.

How to Raise a Tuba?

Give it a nice loving home.....sorry, couldn't resist...

I wanted to convert this A-frame guitar support to a tuba, but did not think of a good method.
https://aframeguitarsupport.com/produc ... ar-support

I use a Hercules stand and it works pretty well. I think something over the knee would feel more natural.

I believe I would rather wrap 1" of stiff foam rubber (or 1/2" thick not-foam rubber) around a lightweight 1x8 (defacto 3/4" x 7.25 inch) board (cedar?) and upholster it with black cordura nylon (long enough to set across both legs) vs. rebending a mouthpipe tube and messing up a lacquer or silver finish.

Some of us keep tubas for quite a while - yet not forever. I would never purchase a tuba with a re-bent/re-positioned mouthpipe tube...(OK...but that's just me.)

Also, I'm aware that this (described above) would raise up a tuba more than a couple of inches.
A quarter-inch-thick (also padded/upholstered) aluminum appliance (perhaps shaped like this, and same width - though $$$) would raise up a tuba less (perhaps only a couple of inches, which is probably all most people need).

bisontuba wrote: ↑Tue Apr 02, 2024 2:25 pm How to Raise a Tuba?

Give it a nice loving home.....sorry, couldn't resist...

When I saw the thread title, that's where my mind went also...

Get a sky hook, your teacher can hook you up ask them

Starting with 100 sq ft of chicken wire.....