TubeNet

The 3 valve compensating system makes for a very in-tune tuba over the normal playing range (assuming that all the overtones line up).
The only 3 valve compensating BBb tubas I am familiar with are the tall and unwieldy Bessons, that are not well suited to younger or shorter players.
Have they ever made something similar in a much more manageable configuration?
It seems that would be a good choice for the student who has a year or two of playing under their belt but is not ready for a big horn yet.
Marty "hates those quarter tone sharp B naturals on some 3 valve BBb tubas"

Replacing equipment with learning, one could could put some sort of slide stop (some twine, even) on a valve slide on a non-comp horn, and tell the kid "pull this on this note, push it in after". Ideally it (I don't like kids ) would start to understand how in tune notes sound and how to correct them.

Many moons ago, Besson made an Eb 3-valve comp tuba with a 15 inch bell, but they are very rare now. I've only seen one for sale here on TubeNet, and even though the price was reasonable, I didn't have the cash at the time.

Also, Hirsbrunner makes a 3-valve rotary comp to order, but it is very expensive. I have a picture of it, but I have to reformat it to fit. If I can, I'll post it later.

What Bob1062 said:

Bob Kolada wrote:Replacing equipment with learning, one could could put some sort of slide stop (some twine, even) on a valve slide on a non-comp horn, and tell the kid "pull this on this note, push it in after". Ideally it (I don't like kids ) would start to understand how in tune notes sound and how to correct them.

What the kids heard Bob1062 say:

Bob Kolada wrote:"Hey kid, pull my finger"

Kids must be smarter up north...

iiipopes wrote:Many moons ago, Besson made an Eb 3-valve comp tuba with a 15 inch bell, but they are very rare now. I've only seen one for sale here on TubeNet, and even though the price was reasonable, I didn't have the cash at the time.

Also, Hirsbrunner makes a 3-valve rotary comp to order, but it is very expensive. I have a picture of it, but I have to reformat it to fit. If I can, I'll post it later.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm,

Maybe I should scrounge around and buy up a bunch of those old Boosey's laying around in brass bands' storage rooms and recondition them. I actually have one aout 5 feet from me. It is a converted high pitch one which isn't in the best condition but, it is easy to play and has a nice sound. A little tweaking and cutting back to a bit higher than HP would make it a nice E tuba - perfect for Bydlo !!

I have toyed with the idea of getting a low pitch, 3 valve one and adding a 4th valve to make a nice little Eb and/or a hp and swapping bells and doing some mods to make a nice little F. Something like a smaller Martin Eb bell shortened a bit would go very close to pulling one of the high pitch models up to F.

Maybe when I have my Martin Eb and the 186 finished and have a lot of tooling with nothing to do, I might have to take on another project..........

Ken Herrick wrote:Maybe I should scrounge around and buy up a bunch of those old Boosey's laying around in brass bands' storage rooms and recondition them. I actually have one aout 5 feet from me. It is a converted high pitch one which isn't in the best condition but, it is easy to play and has a nice sound. A little tweaking and cutting back to a bit higher than HP would make it a nice E tuba - perfect for Bydlo !!

I have toyed with the idea of getting a low pitch, 3 valve one and adding a 4th valve to make a nice little Eb and/or a hp and swapping bells and doing some mods to make a nice little F. Something like a smaller Martin Eb bell shortened a bit would go very close to pulling one of the high pitch models up to F.

There are also a couple of F comp tubas floating around here and there, either prototype or very, very limited production, and without the 5th valve aren't that useful.

Remember, if you add a 4th valve singly, your 4+ combinations will still be sharp without the 4th valve being integrated into the comp system, so you lose the whole reason for having a comp block to begin with. Please leave it be.

Hirsbrunner 3-valve BBb comp w/ double-deck rotors: