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I have an old Eb 1/2 size Beau Ideal tuba from ~ 1890's that is pitched at 430. I was wondering what is involved in changing it to the modern pitch so it could actually be played in an ensemble without being evicted of flogged. I gave the horn to my son, and he is determined to start playing on it, but I don't think he will be very successful unless I can get the pitch a little more modern. I figure if there is anywhere I can find out, someone here will be able to fill me in.

Thanks!
Steve

Making a fine example of myself for NOT READING WHAT WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN

If it's that low, you'll need to take tubing away.

I was thinking that the higher the hertz,the sharper,but didn't want to look stupid(er than usual).

Make sure you have a mouthpiece with the correct shank for the instrument as well. Not too long ago I bought an old 3-valve Eb tuba only to find that a helleberg stuck so far out of the mouthpiece, blowing into the open bugle produced a D.

If the horn was built to the Old International Standard (A=435), as was my 1907 Conn double belled euphonium, the only option is to take AWAY tubing. A modern mouthpiece would only compound matters.

I had to build new, shorter tuning slides because there was no way I was going to cut gold plated slides. If you want to use a modern mouthpiece, you may have to go further than is possible, anyway. Again, I'd recommend a repairperson, who may have some of those old High Pitch slides hanging around. The ones I ended up using with a modern mouthpiece were exactly that length.