Can anyone identify this horn?**Edited!

[scottw]

I found this:

[11annienorm]

There is a pinky ring. Just can't see it from the angle.
Mark, I think you're right. The leadpipe does seem different. Maybe an earlier
or later design?

We have a couple of period mouthpieces that fit, but the mouthpiece I
use is from the 1880s and I have to use an adapter. The receiver is like an Alex.
I wonder why they decided to make it so large.

Anyway, if it plays like mine, you are going to really enjoy the tuba. We tune to A .455.

[11annienorm]

Scott,

We had custom flight cases made for all the horns. No unnecessary damage.
At our next rehearsal, I'll take some pictures and send your way.
You could get Cronkhite to make you one.

Mine has the same engraving on the bell.

[scottw]

Scott,

We had custom flight cases made for all the horns. No unnecessary damage.
At our next rehearsal, I'll take some pictures and send your way.
You could get Cronkhite to make you one.

Mine has the same engraving on the bell.

Looking at the pictures I just sent from horn-u-copia, I wonder if my bell has been replaced? It certainly looks a lot larger [in the picture] than the horn-u-copia horns. I guess I'll have to see it to get a better idea. What is your bell diameter? H-U-C lists 11", but, I'll have to measure the new one.I'll be back sometime Sunday and I'll be able to report! Exciting stuff.

[imperialbari]

Around 1930 Conn assembled horns from imported parts because the US taxes on parts were lower than on assembled instruments. These horns were engraved Conn.

I don’t know the American trade patterns especially well. Yet the CW-era and earlier US brasses obviously were influenced by the German/Czech tradition of brass instruments' making.

If Slater was a maker as well as an importer, there is the possibility that he imported the bells and combined them with valve sections out of the American tradition.

Klaus

[scottw]

I am out in Gettysburg after picking up the new tuba. It is beautiful! He really did a terrific job on it to even get it playing. I tried it briefly tonight after dinner here in the hotel. I was impressed with the upper register: it sings. The scale was not bad at all. What I am concerned about is Eb and F below the staff. These seem particularly stuffy, while the rest of the range is pretty open. Even pedal Eb is strong. Any suggestions?
I used only a Denis Wick 2L I grabbed from the truck and I didn't work too much for fear they would throw me out of the hotel. I will try it tomorrow and, if I get it sounding better, I will play it at the ball in Harrisburg in the evening.
I know these old horns are mouthpiece dependent, so I brought about 4 different ones to try. It really does take a big shank, burying the Wick almost all the way.
It is a whole lot lighter than my Mirafone!

[11annienorm]

If you have something with a medium deep funnel, try it. May help with the notes below the staff. You're right though, they are very mouthpiece dependent.
Good luck finding that magical one!

[GC]

I went through a good dozen mouthpieces with our antique horns, and the one that makes them all respond for me is a plain old Wick 3 (old style, small shank). It's awfully generic, but hey . . .

[scottw]

Well, I tried 4 different mouthpieces tonight at the Civil War Preservation Ball,after playing the horn for a short time in the hotel Friday night. Of the 4 [a Perantucci I borrowed from the other tuba player, a Blokepiece symphony, a Wick 2, and a Conn Helleberg ], the Conn worked best, but the low Eb and F are still very stuffy. The rest of the notes really sing, though. I will have to try some others when I get home, because I really need those important notes to sound better. There is a problem with the leadpipe angle, making it a bit awkward to play, and I wonder if that isn't contributing to the problem.