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Yeah, I talked to Dan this afternoon while he was getting ready to take photos of these horns. Boy they sure look nice.

Please quit calling me lucky... I am having a hard enough time trying to stay patient while he continues to work on my Holton. I don't like the tuba I am playing now and wish I had the Holton back NOW! I haven't played it for just over a year now, so just thinking about betting it back makes me a little crazy.

OK, so he can make a double bell euph pretty enough to cause a disturbance in my trousers. My question is, can he graft on the extra finger you'd need to work the fifth valve?

cheburashka wrote:My question is, can he graft on the extra finger you'd need to work the fifth valve?

I always use mine like a 4 + 1; you just use your left arm forefinger for the fifth valve!

OK, when I get the money to have my 5 valve King DB euph overhauled, that is what I'm going to have done to it. Of course it will cost quite a bit more than the $1300 I paid for the horn, and I would never be able to get the money back out of it, but I think it would be worth it.

harold wrote:

Bandmaster wrote:Please quit calling me lucky... I am having a hard enough time trying to stay patient while he continues to work on my Holton.

Cry me a river - I have a horn that has been sitting there for 5 years.

Are you sure Dan likes you? Just teasing...

harold wrote:As for Dan liking me, I'm certain it is a love/hate relationship. I buy really cool stuff and then expect him to find a way to fix it - of course none of my tubas have had a huge freaking hole in them - like Dave's Holton 345.

Just so you know I didn't put that hole in the bottom bow. I inhereited it along with all those other holes in it. I'm the one willing to spend the big bucks to make it right. Then again I might have sniffed too much valve oil.

harold wrote:

Is it in two different keys or just euphonium on one side and baritone or alto on the other?
Has anyone made a double bell tuba?

The fifth valve switches the horns between bells. The larger one is a euphonium and the second is an alto horn.

There are actually two double bell tubas that I know of. The first is the Bellophone made for Bill Bell and owned by Eli Newberger. The second is the double tuba owned by Fred Young.

As for Dan liking me, I'm certain it is a love/hate relationship. I buy really cool stuff and then expect him to find a way to fix it - of course none of my tubas have had a huge freaking hole in them - like Dave's Holton 345.

To clarify, the small bell is not an alto horn. An alto horn would typically be in the key of Eb or F. On a double bell euphonium the large bell side and the small bell side are both in the same key, Bb. They use the same valve tubing, but the switch valve, either the 4th or 5th depending on how many valves it has, switches to a different "bugle" from the valves to the bell. The large bell side has a conical bore like a euphonium, while the small bell side has a more cylindrical bore, like a trombone/trombonium/English baritone. The reason was to create a difference in timbre to allow for echo like effects while playing.

Also, Jim Self has a double bell tuba that he had made for him. I don't remember the details, but he has a picture of it on his web site.

My dad played a double bell euph in a small community band in the 1930s.
He used the small bell for playing trombone cues.

Also, the double bell on the right (the 1921 New Wonder Conn) belongs to a fellow community band buddy of mine. He will be playing it at Denver Tuba Christmas this year.