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I picked up this old Conn Eb Tuba off of eBay a couple weeks ago just for the fun of it. The serial number is 299XX... which shows it was made in 1895. I finally had a chance to clean it up a little and she polishes up pretty good and doesn't sound too bad either. But there is nothing like it or this old listed on the Conn Loyalist website, so do any of you have a clue what model this might be? Or for that matter, how many models did Conn offer during the 1890's? The engraving on the bell is quite extensive. It is a little on the small side being 30" tall and the bell is 14" in diameter. It show signs of repairs done to one edge of the bell and to the third valve and it has one big dent on the bottom bow. Other tthan that it looks like it has been well care for over the years.






Anyone have a recomendation for a mouthpiece that might work well for this horn? I am used to big deep mouthpieces and this one takes a small shank tuba mouthpiece, about the same as a base trombone shank. I am not that familiar with what is available for smaller horns. Thanks!

Denis Wick number line (without the "L") all fit the smaller receiver. Perantucci makes a small shank. I personally prefer the Wick, and use the #1 as my main mouthpiece for my Besson BBb: Helleburg style cup with a Bachish rim. The Wick #2 is a Bach 18 if they were actually made to "spec," a tad smaller overall, and not as they really are. The #3 is a bit smaller than the #2, and also works for Eb. These three use the same blank, so as the cup diameter gets slightly smaller, the rim gets slightly wider. #s 4 & 5 use a size slightly smaller blank, and were specifically designed for Eb instruments. A good chart to compare everything is at
http://www.ibowtie.com
Another good place to see comparative number data is
http://www.mouthpieceexpress.com
I see a lot of used Wick 3 about everywhere: eBay, Dillon Music, etc.

Wow! What stupendous engraving!

Conn Worcester instruments were made in the former Isaac Fiske factory in Massachusetts. Conn only manufactured there for about 10 years in the late 19th century. I haven't ever seen specific model numbers for horns made there. I don't know if Conn adapted Fiske models when he bought the company or if he just used the manufacturing capacity. Here's a link to some additional information:

http://www.usd.edu/~mbanks/CONN4.html#Worcest

Either way it's a nice looking horn. I'm sorry I didn't bid more.

http://memory.loc.gov/music/sm/sm1882/0 ... 17/020.tif

1882 flyer

No model numbers until 1919.

As always with Conn, they had standard models, but you could ask for and receive any variations you wanted.

What a beauty! That was the first concert tuba I ever played (not that horn but one of that model ). I gave my euph a rest for a piece to play a mean 7th grade version of "Mission Impossible" in our concert. Luckily I still remembered treble clef so the fingerings weren't a problem.

Oh, the memories.

Hey Dave,

Great looking horn! Sounds like another Conn mystery in the making... Is it high or low pitch? Bring it to practice on Monday so we can check it out. I have a baritone MP, will that fit or does it need to be a small shank tuba MP???

Lew wrote:Here's a link to some additional information:
http://www.usd.edu/~mbanks/CONN4.html#Worcest

I've visited this page before but had forgotten about it or lost the link! I'm excited to read everything again! Thanks Lew...

trseaman wrote:Hey Dave,

Great looking horn! Sounds like another Conn mystery in the making... Is it high or low pitch? Bring it to practice on Monday so we can check it out. I have a baritone MP, will that fit or does it need to be a small shank tuba MP???

With the main tuning slide pulled out as in the photos it plays at modern pitch. It did have mouthpiece with it but the rim is pretty rough and uncomfortable. It is also only slightly large than a baritone mouthpiece. A standard tuba mouthpiece will insert into the receiver, just not all the way. I'll bring it on Monday night.

If it's high pitch, as it sure seems, the valve slides will need to come out a little, too. Check it all with a tuner if you'll be using it at moden pitch!

DavidK wrote:Great engraving!! Looks like 5 petal Virginia Creeper. Maybe a custom job for a Virginian. Very interesting in that the engraving goes so far beyond the lead pipe attachment.

The engraving actually looks similar to that on every Worcester model Conn that I have seen (I have owned 2 and seen at least a half dozen), although this extends down the bell a little more than some others.

Bandmaster wrote:I picked up this old Conn Eb Tuba off of eBay a couple weeks ago just for the fun of it.

Here's the top-action version of one of those.... not quite as pretty as yours, though!



The serial number is 50172... listing it as built in 1898... also at the Worchester Plant. It looks a little nicer now. When I received the horn, it had a steel receiver on it that was apparently a home-brewed repair... maybe done at a time when brass was not available. The waterkey also has a flat spring... fairly common on American horns made prior to 1900.

My 1910 top action Conn Eb also has a flat spring waterkey.

Somewhere around this period they stopped using the design with the top bow so close to the bell flare and started making them more tightly wrapped, closer to the design of most mid-20th century Eb piston tubas. Why?

jacobg wrote:Somewhere around this period they stopped using the design with the top bow so close to the bell flare and started making them more tightly wrapped, closer to the design of most mid-20th century Eb piston tubas. Why?

My guess is style (the same reason that they went away from the shepherd's crook look for cornets). The same thing happened for both baritones and euphoniums. Then again, it allowed them to use the same outer wrap for both top action and front action horns.

windshieldbug wrote:

jacobg wrote:Somewhere around this period they stopped using the design with the top bow so close to the bell flare and started making them more tightly wrapped, closer to the design of most mid-20th century Eb piston tubas. Why?

My guess is style (the same reason that they went away from the shepherd's crook look for cornets). The same thing happened for both baritones and euphoniums. Then again, it allowed them to use the same outer wrap for both top action and front action horns.

Well, just maybe after the factory burned to the ground in 1910 they re-tooled when they built the new factory? They claimed to have redesigned their horns after the fire. See URL below for story...

http://www.usd.edu/~mbanks/CONN8.html#1910

Bandmaster wrote:

windshieldbug wrote:

jacobg wrote:Somewhere around this period they stopped using the design with the top bow so close to the bell flare and started making them more tightly wrapped, closer to the design of most mid-20th century Eb piston tubas. Why?

My guess is style (the same reason that they went away from the shepherd's crook look for cornets). The same thing happened for both baritones and euphoniums. Then again, it allowed them to use the same outer wrap for both top action and front action horns.

Well, just maybe after the factory burned to the ground in 1910 they re-tooled when they built the new factory? They claimed to have redesigned their horns after the fire. See URL below for story...

http://www.usd.edu/~mbanks/CONN8.html#1910

Yes, but it was done by other manufacurers, too

Lyon & Healy may have contracted to Conn to make their instruments. About the same time, they quit making a lot of their own instruments, including even having made pipe organs for awhile!

JohnH wrote:I have a 1906 Conn 4-valve euphonium with almost identical engraving, and the front-action valve configuration is the same as your horn with double slides top and bottom for 1 and 3. It is a dual-pitch model and came with an extra main slide insert, although it plays a little low with the extra pipe so I usually leave it out and pull the slide.

I think Conn was building low pitch to about A=435 then. I have a 1907 double bell baritone with the same low pitch problem, so I remade a high pitch slide for it, and do the same.

JohnH wrote:That would explain it, then. I have a 1924 high-pitch Conn New Wonder Eb helicon that is very high, all the slides have to come out almost to their limit to play at standard pitch. I think the low pitch model of this horn during this period was closer to modern pitch.

Yes, they went up to 440. I have a silver 1924 Eb with High and Low pitch slides, and the low are just fine. Do you have the original neck? Mine's not, and I'd love to see a picture if you do!

Bob1062 wrote:My serial # is 28423 and is on the second valve, does anyone think that this a conn number?

I'm guessing not. 28423 on a Conn would be 1894, and C.G. was famous for objecting to, and taking people to court over stencil horns. I'd hazard that Conn the company didn't get into stencils until after C.G. sold out in 1915. I suppose that it could have been built by Fiske in Worcester before Conn bought Fiske's factory in 1887. Also the Conn stencils that I've seen often have a serial number that starts with 'P'.

Lyon & Healey claimed in their catalogs that they had been building (at least some of) their horns from 1896-1930.

Bob1062 wrote:Bandmaster, do you still have the Conn?
How do you like it so far?

Yes I still have it, although Robb Stewart has it right now. He is trying to free up all the tuning slides for me. It plays fairly nice, but to be able to set the slides properly will help, I hope. There are signs of past repairs of the bell and the third valve. It was apparently hit near the third valve and things were knocked out of alignment a little. But overall it is in very good condition. I need to get a proper mouthpiece to fit the receiver which should make play even better.

BTW, I paid $375 including shipping and it came with an old Yamaha canvas gig bag too.