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Tonight I rehearsed Holst's Second Suite in F, which was published by Boosey & Co. in 1922, on an Eb tuba made by Boosey & Co. in 1924.

I had it shipped over from the UK. I'd like to think that that tuba has played those notes before!

arpthark wrote: ↑Wed May 15, 2024 9:13 pm Tonight I rehearsed Holst's Second Suite in F, which was published by Boosey & Co. in 1922, on an Eb tuba made by Boosey & Co. in 1924.

I had it shipped over from the UK. I'd like to think that that tuba has played those notes before!

Group i play with has also been working through it for a summer concert. My common practice of playing whatever is in the car (usually a 3 valve eb just barely loud enough to hold my own) doesn't always fare well with the lower portions. But i suppose it is false tone practice...

I had a recording B-flat (19" bell) Buescher 4-valve top-action B-flat (c. .726" bore) to which I was adding a 5th rotor, removed the (typical with Buescher L-O-N-G pre-valve main tuning slide) for C length, and was converting the small bow POST-valves into the main slide...but I just haven't gotten back to that project.

A fantasy/goal was to use that instrument to play American in Paris (you know: the little solo pitched in C) the next time is rolls around.

Well...It's "rolling around" again this spring, and I doubt that I'll have that project completed for that concert.

date of manufacture of the Buescher tuba: 1928

date of composition of American in Paris: 1928

This catalog (I'm thinking) is also dated 1928...It's one of these 697's:





bloke "yes...I DID have Dave Secrist rebuild the pistons, prior to his retirement."

I like how the catalog uses the term “deflecting bell.” One of the definitions of deflect is, “To avoid something, such as criticism or blame.” Perhaps the deflecting bell will make the conductor think it was the bass trombonist that hit that clam.

Love it! We just played Second Suite in our local community band Wed night in Truckee, CA. I found my copy of the tuba part that I "borrowed" when I graduated high school in 1986 and pulled it out for the performance. Still one of my favorite tuba parts to play

If a comment on the Buescher (in a thread about "playing older instruments on older pieces") is OK...

If one looks at the various lengths of vertical slide tubing, the valveset B-flat - to - C conversion may be a good bit simpler than with side-action piston instruments, as (notice the choices) some mix-and-matching of pair of slide tubes could avoid a good bit of cutting - in addition to (once cut) the double-layers of tubing (ie. spacers) otherwise being in the way of reattaching to the valve block knuckles.

One off the roadblocks has bell a speckled silver plated finish, and what to do about it...
ie. leave it ugly, or buff it smooth, or chemically strip it to see if that saves time, or ...??

MikeS wrote: ↑Fri May 17, 2024 10:26 am I like how the catalog uses the term “deflecting bell.” One of the definitions of deflect is, “To avoid something, such as criticism or blame.” Perhaps the deflecting bell will make the conductor think it was the bass trombonist that hit that clam.

If I had the required creativity and time, this makes me want to write "Defensive Musicianship: When Conductors Attack, a Concerto for Deflecting Bell Tuba and Various Projectiles."

In community band this season one of the pieces we are playing is a medley called "New York 1927": concert band arrangements of trad jazz numbers. I will be playing the outdoor concerts featuring this piece (until my rebuilt "real" 36K is ready) on a Pan Am souzy with a 51xxx serial number, which according to the Conn Loyalist chart is circa 1926-7.