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Got an upright for my bead-blasted King 1240!

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 3:32 pm
by Tubajug
Gotta love TubeNet! I purchased an upright bell from a gentleman on here. From what he told me it was taken from an M&M Tuba and cut to fit the King bell tenon. It's about 16" inches tall and across. I like it very much! Here's the pic!

Image

Re: Got an upright for my bead-blasted King 1240!

Posted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 8:03 pm
by iiipopes
Nice! I have a St Pete upright bell cut to fit a 186 tenon on my tuba so I can also use both bells. For example, to get the best out of each bell, I have Curry 128D with a hybrid funnel cup for the 16 1/2 inch upright and a Kanstul custom 18-style with a more rounded cup for the 22 inch recording.

You may find that the "mechanical impedance," or the way the bell reacts with the horn is different enough to need a different mouthpiece. What is your current mouthpiece?

Re: Got an upright for my bead-blasted King 1240!

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:14 pm
by Tubajug
I would describe the sound as "compact" and/or "focused." I really like it.

I've just been using my Helleberg mouthpiece (it's the only one I've got). Maybe I just didn't have the recording bell long enough, but I haven't noticed any big differences using the same mouthpiece between the two bells. But now this is the only bell I have, and I like the sound with the Helleberg, so I'll just stick with that!

Being in Lincoln, NE there aren't gobs of mouthpieces (certainly not horns) available for "test-driving" so I bought a Helleberg years ago and it's suited me very well so far.

Re: Got an upright for my bead-blasted King 1240!

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:35 pm
by iiipopes
The Helleberg is a very good mouthpiece for both bells. Glad it's working out for you.

Re: Got an upright for my bead-blasted King 1240!

Posted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 4:36 pm
by tubaguy9
If you're in Omaha often, go visit Thompson Music in Elkhorn. They have a rather large selection of higher end mouthpieces.