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I just acquired a silver 1926 York BBb ,4 piston front action, with a fixed recording bell. I want to have the bell front replaced , with an upright York bell , and being the complete ignoramus I am on these kinds of matters I would very much appreciate some advice from those knowledgeable in these matters. Some questions...

Will any York bell work ,Eb CC or BBb, provided it fits the collar?
If not, what do I need to look for?

Thanks in advance for your insight!

Contact Matt @ Dillons.

It depends which model York tuba you have. Some have tall bells and some have short bells. They are not interchangable. A photo would let us figure that out.

I haven't taken a pic just yet, but here is the model I have.

From the Tuba Exchange website


Mine needs some work, but the sound is immense, and the intonation is a lot better than I expected...and no I have no plans to cut it CC

Matt should be able to advise you - also Sam G who is nearer geographically. I think both have quite a lot of history with the old Yorks. You gonna leave it in BBb?

OK, you have a York Model 716 BBb Tuba. I have one too, only the bell is removable. See my signature below...

I havebeen looking for a bell too. Few and far in between I am afraid. The best bet I am thinking will be to find a York Model 700, 3 valve upright tuba, for sale cheap someplace and buy to swap the bells.

ZNC Dandy wrote: and no I have no plans to cut it CC

That's the spirit !!

If the acoustic design had been directed towards both types of bells, then this bell front had been detachable.

If you like all other aspects with this tuba, then keep the bell as is.

Klaus

Thanks for all the help and responses so far! One more question...i'd like to replace the bell that is on my Bohm and Meinl CC with that of a York also, I assume through searching the archives, that a York Monster EEb bell is preferred?

Thanks Again!

I used to own a horn that had a replacement bell on it..it played a half-step sharp from F on the staff all the way down to peddle Bb (even with the main tuning slide pulled all the way out). Found out from a collector (who eventually bought the horn from me) that the bell on the horn was about 6" shorter than the original bell. So I would advise an abundance of caution; make sure this is really what you want to do.

JJ

Again, contact Matt @ Dillons, who has done more of these than anybody except probably Sam Gnagny.

Also, I concur with the intonation issues. My 186 detachable has a replacement upright St Pete bell, and I had to have the main tuning slide lengthened to get it back down to pitch.

Imperialbari makes a good point about overall intonation and leaving it be.

It may be best to have a collar installed and have an upright bell made. I've done it a few times (from recording to upright and upright to recording) and the horns play well and look good.

'Fiddling' with the original horn design is always a crap-shoot.... unless you have LOADS of experience doing it as is the case with Matt Walters and Sam Gnagey. The discoveries of 'what works with what' is more-or-less a matter of experimentation. Bell flare can affect pitch as can the rate of taper and, of course, the overall length of the bell. The fact that most tubas were sold with only a recording bell OR an upright bell is further testimony that the properties are sometimes quite different and can even lead to serious intonation problems. I've done quite a few bell swaps and will be the first to tell you that the results are not always perfect. There is no way that I would guarantee the outcome of a bell swap unless it's identical to ones I have done before. I put Asian bells on horns only if I KNOW what the outcome will be based on past experience.

I am not an advocate of changing from a fixed bell to a detachable bell because I think there are usually substantial differences in the resonance of a horn with a fixed bell and one with a detachable bell. If the outcome is to be a horn with both detachable recording bells and upright bells... those bells are going to have to demonstrate acoustical properties that are close to each other.

The short answer is... replacing a bell is nothing short of prototyping and you can expect the results to be mixed.