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I was sitting in my room last night looking at my old Martin tuba that I thought was Eb and noticed that the main tuning slide has a removable extension section that is 7in long (14total). It plays in Eb with the section in would it play in F with it out? I'm in the market for an F tuba but this would get me by for a while if it plays in F.

I'd take the empirical route --

Take the extention out and play it with F fingerings against a tuner. Find out what notes center on the open bugle.

just my 2 cents

You'd be close but still pretty flat. The difference between an Eb and an F is about 19 inches.

Chuck(G) wrote:You'd be close but still pretty flat. The difference between an Eb and an F is about 19 inches.

Maybe you'd be further ahead trying to make a tuba in E! (If nothing else, it would be somewhat unique.)

Dont you love the sound of those old Martin tubas?

If you do and you want a great MARTIN F tuba, I have one that I am considering selling. It dates from 1922 and is a Dillon cut Eb to F w/five valves, and USN engraved in the bell along with all of the other fancy engraving. it has a 17in bell, also. I love the sound of those old Martin tubas! The low register on this horn is particularly good. If any of you are seriously interested let me know.

Thanks

Andrew Welborn

I would wager that it's a high pitch/low pitch conversion slide in Eb. It works the same way as the tuning donut that many old York tubas had. Before the pitch was standardized on the current A=440, there were a few different pitch standards, with the most prevalent being a low pitch, that was about A=432, and high pitch with A=452, at least that seems to be where they are based on the 19th century instruments I have owned or played. I have yet to find a definitive source to quantify exactly what 19th century high and low pitch standards meant.