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I picked up a La Monte BBb tuba locally. I wasn't too interested, but I ended up getting a "decent-ish" price on it and I got rid of a trombone that I wasn't using much. The tuba doesn't sound too bad, the scale is manageable the valves works, no appearance of cracks or rotting. The horn has a 16.5" bell and a bore around .730. With the right mouthpiece, this might be a "good for the money" horn.

However, the mouthpiece receiver is very small. The only mouthpiece I have that fits in it is a European shank PS Solo. Even though the PS Solo is a relatively large euphonium mouthpiece it is a poor tuba mouthpiece.

Has anyone ever swapped one of these tiny receivers and put a standard tuba receiver? (I know about British shanks being upgraded but this one is smaller than those.) What is the inner diameter of the mouthpiece receiver? (on the side that joins up with the leadpipe)


I haven't had my calipers and tuba in the same place at once but I should be good to have some measurements tomorrow.

Thanks!

Should be no problem. Dan is going do it to my Conn Eb sometime soon.

Where I would normally keep the small British-sized .490 receiver on a tuba, in this case I'm with bloke about changing out the receiver for a standard .520 receiver to make the horn playable.

So I just measured the horn.

Overall bore is 19mm (~.75)

The outer diameter of the leadpipe where the receiver ends is about 0.565.

Just so everyone is clear, this horn does not have a british tuba shank. It has a euphonium medium shank. The end of the shank of the mouthpiece needed is not 0.490, it is actually 0.465 or so.


I'll contact my local repair guy and see what he has in stock. I just didn't want to show up at his shop and end up needing a custom receiver or a new leadpipe. (Both of which would probably cost more than I have in this horn so far.)

LJV wrote:PM, I think maybe at this juncture someone should say something... An intervention is in order...

The tuba gathering addiction is a terrible thing and ruined many a happy home. Stop now while you still can!

Thanks for your concern, LJV!

My girlfriend is quite understanding, she doesn't complain about the number of instruments I own (quite a few more than what I have in my signature) as long as I don't complain about the number of pairs of shoes she has. Neither one of us has debt, and we each buy stuff with our own money.

______
ps. I might already be too far along for an intervention the La Monte is my 4th tuba and the 6th one I've owned in the past year....

Got a picture?

bloke wrote:At least tubas don't drip oil and grease all over the garage floor...or cause cars to be parked in the driveway (as do motorcycle addictions).

Yes, but they can cause other musical instruments or household items to be relocated temporarily in a similar manner, often to the dismay of other household members.

Here are some crappy cell phone pics:

The wooden case:


The horn in its case:


The horn beside a B&H EEb.

These tiny shanks have been mentioned on TN before. If the receiver change doesn't pan out, I think you will find that Doug Elliot can make a shank this size, which will fit any (?) of his range of tuba mouthpieces.

Ha, [shock of recognition] it's an Orsi stencil. I like my Eb quite a bit, though I suppose it's really nothing special. Appears the receiver shank on my Eb is bigger than on your BBb, that's funny.

MikeW wrote:These tiny shanks have been mentioned on TN before. If the receiver change doesn't pan out, I think you will find that Doug Elliot can make a shank this size, which will fit any (?) of his range of tuba mouthpieces.

I've thought of the Doug Elliot route before. However, no offense intended, a Doug Elliot mouthpiece(with shipping and customs) would cost about $30 less than what I have in the horn at this point. Also, I have 5 standard shank tuba mouthpieces that I don't use right now...

That's an interesting case, is there any padding to speak of or just the shaped wooden rests?

I really like the outside color. I don't know why, but when I saw I just thought was a really cool looking case!

Tubajug wrote:That's an interesting case, is there any padding to speak of or just the shaped wooden rests?

I really like the outside color. I don't know why, but when I saw I just thought was a really cool looking case!

The case is pretty cool. It's made out plywood. 1/2" at the bell and on the sides and 1/4" on the curved parts. The isn't much padding but there are a couple pieces of old carpet.

I might cut up a cheap yoga mat and pad the inside.

PMeuph wrote:

MikeW wrote:These tiny shanks have been mentioned on TN before. If the receiver change doesn't pan out, I think you will find that Doug Elliot can make a shank this size, which will fit any (?) of his range of tuba mouthpieces.

I've thought of the Doug Elliot route before. However, no offense intended, a Doug Elliot mouthpiece(with shipping and customs) would cost about $30 less than what I have in the horn at this point. Also, I have 5 standard shank tuba mouthpieces that I don't use right now...

Regardless of how good his stuff may be, don't let him read that...

Bob Kolada wrote:

PMeuph wrote: I've thought of the Doug Elliot route before. However, no offence intended, a Doug Elliot mouthpiece(with shipping and customs) would cost about $30 less than what I have in the horn at this point. Also, I have 5 standard shank tuba mouthpieces that I don't use right now...

Regardless of how good his stuff may be, don't let him read that...

As I live in a country were is is impossible to try the mouthpieces before buying them (Unless your willing to pay for round-trip shipping costs and then have to fight with customs to get your tax money back when you return it) I tend to not buy mouthpieces solely to try them out. I'm sure his system would work well for me. I currently play euph, tuba and bass t-bone regularly and I'm sure that I could optimize my mouthpieces. However, since I don't have an unlimited source of money, and I haven't made a trip to some event like the midwest conference I will have to wait. Buying a full setup of mouthpieces would surely set me back the price of a decent used tenor trombone.... I mostly decide to buy a mouthpiece (used) when I feel I can sell it for about the same thing I paid it. I don't know if you've noticed but the DE mouthpieces rarely show up for sale here or on the trombone forum. Maybe that means that people enjoy them a lot, but it probably also means that given their very customized nature you're unlikely to resell them. That's all fine and dandy, but I can think of better ways to spend $200-$250...

Yes, that's really no problem at all. I can make euph-size shanks that will work well with my mouthpieces.

Perantucci mouthpieces can be ordered with four shank sizes:

http://tubamania.com/Mouthpieces.htm

Normal (Euro size)
S (Small - same as American Standard)
XS (eXtra small - presumably(?) Small-Euro, like the old Bessons etc.)
AM - described as "for instruments with extremely small receivers"

The shank sizes quoted on the above website seem to be measured at the opening of the receiver instead of at the tip of the shank, so direct comparison with other published measurements is not possible, but it is at least possible that the AM size may fit your instrument (obviously this would only be relevant if replacing the receiver turns out to be a problem).

Perantucci tuba mouthpieces are available with the following shanks:

No Indication: (15.2 mm) Standard shank, for contemporary CC and BBb tubas with large receivers.
"S" on shank: (14.8 mm) One size smaller, for CC and BBb tubas with small receivers and most Eb and F tubas.
"XS" on shank: (14.5 mm) For Eb or F tubas with particularly small receivers.
"AM" on shank: (14.2 mm) For instruments with extremely small receivers.

With no indication of where those measuremants are made, the numbers are kind of meaningless. They're not receiver opening sizes. I suspect the smallest one is about like a bass trombone shank, which isn't nearly small enough.