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I am interested in learning more about the first bass tubas made by Johann Godfried Moritz.
Basically I'm looking for info on:
--the materials/methods used to make them
--different types of them (size, valve type,tubing wrapping)
--different keys/ number of valves
--possibly fingering charts or recordings of restored Moritz tubas
--any other helpful info
I'm not doing this for a school project, I'm just interested in these funky-looking tubas,
Also, any info on any other instruments he made would be helpful as well.
Thanks.

HI-
Some pics & info-FYI-mark

http://www.horn-u-copia.net/show.php?se ... oritz++%22" target="_blank

Prussian Patent No. 19 was granted to Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht and Johann Gottfried Moritz (1777–1840) on September 12, 1835 for a "basstuba" in F. The original Wieprecht and Moritz instrument used five valves of the Berliner pumpen type that were the forerunners of the modern piston valve.

I don't recall the fingerings, but it's very similar to modern 6-valve F tubas with 2 on the left hand. The tall narrow profile, the leadpipe geometry, and the distribution of the valves were designed this way because the original tubas were taking the place of ophicliedes, which the players were used to using both hands on the keys.

There is some info and pictures here.

It would be most helpful to get dimensions of the instruments (i.e. bore, height, width, so on...)
Thanks for the info so far!

This topic is very difficult to summarize on TubeNet. It's a rich field, and one which is of extreme interest to me as well (I'm doing some research at the NMM next week on construction techniques, including Moritz's work). In short, they are usually in F, with 5 valves similar to the Vienna system (which is based on Moritz's layout) missing the 3rd finger on the left hand (which is somewhat redundant anyway). They are very similar to the proportions of a period ophicleide, save for the added length, much of which was cylindrical or nearly so. He used the Berlin valves, and rarely had any tuning mechanism on the valve tubes (save on later examples). The bells were narrow and nearly flareless, with a wreath for reinforcement.

There are examples of other keys of instrument by him. In addition, he and his firm manufactured brasswinds of many types, some under gov't contract through Wieprecht. But I wouldn't necessarily begin your research here on the TubaNet; there are oodles of materials out there, and some actual examples of his work in museums. PM me if you need some ideas for resources, but Clifford Bevan's "Tuba Family" and Anthony Baines "Brass Instruments: Their History and Development" are great places to begin.

J.c.S.