4/4 Gnagey tuba owners

[David]

I've had this horn for quite a while but I'm still unconvinced about the best fingering for the low F.
4+5 is very sensitive, tendency to be very sharp. Doesn't lock very well. 1+2+4 locks much better,
but its flat. I've tried lots of different slide pulling to work out the best configuration, but I've
never been fully satisfied.

Anyone else had this sort of fiddling predicament?

[tubashaman2]

.

[pierre]

I suppose by the nature of his horns they are all slightly different, but I pull the 4th slide to play the D/G in tune and then adjust the 5th to play the F 4 + 5. On my horn this puts the 4th out about a centimeter and the 5th all the way in.

[jeopardymaster]

Mine locks in on low F with 4-5, no problem. I played a gig with Tim Olt last night who also has one of the same (relatively early) vintage. He has some sharper angles in his tubing, especially on the 4th valve, and I have an Amato on my main tuning slide while he has a "conventional" water key on his, but otherwise the horns are virtually identical. He has expressed some concerns about his A-flats but I believe his responds the same as mine on low F.

Sam changed the receiver on mine last year, which made some marked improvements in upper range response, in exchange for a flat open e1 (above the staff). But 1-2 is just fine, and the low range is sweet as ever, so I don't mind at all.

You may want to send Sam a PM.

[Sam Gnagey]

I've had this horn for quite a while but I'm still unconvinced about the best fingering for the low F.
4+5 is very sensitive, tendency to be very sharp. Doesn't lock very well. 1+2+4 locks much better,
but its flat. I've tried lots of different slide pulling to work out the best configuration, but I've
never been fully satisfied.

Anyone else had this sort of fiddling predicament?

We specifically build the horn to play the low F with the 4 & 5 combination. Generally that requires leaving the 5th slide out about 2-3 inches. That makes the D-flat below the staff in tune with the 2,3 & 5 combination and the D-flat above the pedal C with 1,2,3,4 & 5. Give those a try and PM or email me if things don't work out or you'd like some advice about other fingering issues on the horn. Most people find that they need to do little if any slide manipulation while playing our horns.

[David]

I've had this horn for quite a while but I'm still unconvinced about the best fingering for the low F.
4+5 is very sensitive, tendency to be very sharp. Doesn't lock very well. 1+2+4 locks much better,
but its flat. I've tried lots of different slide pulling to work out the best configuration, but I've
never been fully satisfied.

Anyone else had this sort of fiddling predicament?

We specifically build the horn to play the low F with the 4 & 5 combination. Generally that requires leaving the 5th slide out about 2-3 inches. That makes the D-flat below the staff in tune with the 2,3 & 5 combination and the D-flat above the pedal C with 1,2,3,4 & 5. Give those a try and PM or email me if things don't work out or you'd like some advice about other fingering issues on the horn. Most people find that they need to do little if any slide manipulation while playing our horns.

I should have asked about this earlier. With the 5th pulled that far out, the F is great now. Still pretty tuning sensitive, but way more manageable. The 2+3+5 fingering helped a lot as well. I no longer have to have the 3rd slide pulled out so much so my pedal Eb, D and C# are also more manageable.

Thanks a bunch

[David]

I assume the 5th valve on these are flat whole steps, or did he make some half step 5th valve models.

Plus, how does your mouthpiece fit in the receiver. I had this problem with my 1291CC when I first got it, I was on a helleberg 7B, and I was sharp, then the PT50+ made it flat overall, what I use now (GW BAER MMVI) works perfectly

I've been using the 7B. I'll try a few others see if that helps.

[Mitch]

I haven't had any issues with the low F on mine (rather to the contrary, actually), but mine is a 6/4 for one thing. I'm posting to echo the sentiment that I've found a Baer MMVI to be an excellent choice for my Gnageyphone.

Mitch
(Gnagey-built 6/4 BBb Martin)