FRANKENTUBAS

[imperialbari]

not your father's frankentuba in that it is not made from more than one horn, but rather just reconfigured to be able to play it standing up (or sitting) without having to hold it.



I call it my Dr. Suessafone

ken k

Maybe I should remember, but I don’t: Did you or Harvey do this conversion?

If possible I would like a rear photo also, which possibly better will tell how the structural strength has been achieved.

Transportation would be clumsy, if this instrument cannot be disassembled. A photo of the disassembled instrument would be welcome.

The bell proportions puzzle me a bit. Was this an old-style King 2341 BBb?

Klaus

[Bob Kolada]

Left to right-
-early 1900's King medium Eb. Trimmed main slide crook, flipped first.
-Eb bass trombone. .562 King baritone valves, G baritone bell, lots of .562 tubing, usable main slide in the back, bass trombone receiver. Put together by J.c. Sherman.
-stock 1895 Conn Eb.

[ken k]

not your father's frankentuba in that it is not made from more than one horn, but rather just reconfigured to be able to play it standing up (or sitting) without having to hold it.



I call it my Dr. Suessafone

ken k

Maybe I should remember, but I don’t: Did you or Harvey do this conversion?

If possible I would like a rear photo also, which possibly better will tell how the structural strength has been achieved.

Transportation would be clumsy, if this instrument cannot be disassembled. A photo of the disassembled instrument would be welcome.

The bell proportions puzzle me a bit. Was this an old-style King 2341 BBb?

Klaus

Klaus, here is a link to the original thread on this horn:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=30515&p=267514&hili ... +k#p267514" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank
It is a Beuscher horn from the 1920's the best I can tell.
here is a picture of the horn with the beuscher bell I bought from Bloke:



here is the horn after Harv did his magic to it. We cut slides and worked on a few things to make it into a pretty nice player, resolving many of the intonation issues. I wouldimagine the Beuscher bell may have helped that as well. Sometime I wish I had left the horn in that condition, but it is a good conversation starter in its present form.

[itai]

Here's my Holton 345 / Nirschl York.

http://m.facebook.com/?_rdr#!/photo.php ... 1052323680" target="_blank" target="_blank

I hope its visible..

(Holton body + reciever, Nirschl valveset) made by Walter in 1998

[ken k]

here are more pix for Klaus.
Hate to hijack the thread but here it goes...
front view

rear view

rear close up of two braces added for structural support to valve set

suessafone in action. I mounted a Stewart Stand to the horn and purchased a long rod from the local hardware store, so I can raise it tall enough to play standing without having to hold the horn


As far as carrying the horn around, it really is not any more cumbersome than a regular bellfront tuba. In fact there is a very handy place to grab the horn right under that valve section that is centered and balanced and easy to grab.
The bell is very tight in the tenon and is difficult to remove, so I rarely take it off. The horn could use a good cleaning and a valve replating but it really is not a bad player and works very well in the dixieland/NOLA idiom. I have also used it in the Reading Pops Orchestra at summer outdoor gigs.
ken k

[imperialbari]

Telling in depth on a project hardly equals hijacking.

I hadn’t noticed the Steward (?) stand-type of rod going all the way up to the valves. How is it secured to the upper half of the instrument?

Thanks for the telling and for the photos!

Klaus

[ken k]

It is not attached at the top, only at the bottom two bows of the bugle, as can be seen on the larger rear picture.

k

[imperialbari]

Is there sort of a telecopic stay between the top bow and the 3rd piston casing?

[bigbob]

Ken-K Thats a very unique looking horn truly a frankenhorn ...How hard is it for you to see your music Does the bell arch interfere??and do you feel the bell angle is better than over your head or beside it...Just a novice thats curious.................................BB

[ken k]

Klaus, the stay connecting the third valve to the top bow is not telescopic. That is the main support brace for the valve section. Harv and I talked about making the horn convertible so that I could change between lap tuba and standing tuba but we never got that far in the development.

The bell position is not ideal. When we first made it we had the bell facing to the left as you can see on my avatar pic. We just could never get it so that it would face straight ahead, so it either goes to the right or left. the horn is slightly more compact and rests on the ground when not in use better with it facing right so that is the way I usually play it. If staging logisitcs would be better served with the bell to the left I can turn it but it is not easy to do.
As far as reading music I do not have a large viewing area around the bell, but enough make it work. In the dixie group I do not read alot of music. Also my right arm just barely reaches the valves this way. Again it is not ideal but I can make it work.

I like the idea of the support, in order to be able to play the horn standing without having to hold the horn or use a strap or stand of some kind. I think something like that could be a viable option for someone to look into creating.

[PaulMaybery]

Okay, its taken me a month to get around to posting a pic and some details.
About 10 yrs ago I was given an old York, 4v front action, fixed recording bell tuba.
Really in BAD shape.
I had new valve caps machined, reversed the 1st valve slide for a longer pull, added 2 inches to the lead pipe and modified the curvature. Also added a standard American shank receiver
I had several (4) Conn giant EEb tubas, so a bell from one was transplanted onto the York.
The Conn bell was a tad larger so I needed to expand the bottom bow of the York and use the Conn ferule. Removed a ton of dents. BTW - made my own magnetic dent ball kit with a rare earth magnet, some pvc plumbing supplies, and steel balls of many sizes - some being mill balls from the mining industry in Colorado.
Put on a new tuning slide and added a 5th valve from a Miraphone 186 just after the 4th valve. Not a bad player at all. Huge sound. Normal intonation with regard to flat and sharp partials (5 & 6 respectively).
This is my 1st attempt and while it is not cosmetically gorgeous, it does function rather well. At the time I had very little money, and wanted a large BBb - so I build my own. Used it on quite a few professional gigs and it held its own against fancy and much newer instruments. It also got many complements on how cool it looked. I was just glad it sounded so well.

[PaulMaybery]

Thanks Greg. Yes it is BBb. The original tuning slide was 'hacked' quite a bit, may have been low pitched before the cutting - I'm guessing. In the photo, for some reason I had all of the slides pushed in, though when I play it they are all adjusted out appropriately and the 3rd is short enough to get a 2 & 3 Gb up to pitch. There were no HP/LP scribe marks on the tuning slides which were customarily on horns with the HP/LP York "patented 1911 knuckle." This one did not have the knuckle. Tweaking the lead pipe with the 2 inch addition at the narrow end made a world of difference. Not only did it take the hoarseness out of the sound but evened out the overall intonation. It is simply a ferule and a piece of straight tubing then the receiver. Nothing fancy.

[PaulMaybery]

Love that Eb bass trombone. Reminds me of an ancient 'bombardon'. Looks like it would play pretty well especially with a slide in the back. Gives me an idea. I suppose that set up would work in F as well.
Could be the perfect horn for ophicleide parts - such as the Mendelssohn "Midsommer" Have you had a chance to use it much? Also probably great on Cimbasso parts.
BEAUTIFUL!!!

[TubaZac2012]

This is one of my favorite threads. Love all the threads. Would love to play these axes!

[iiipopes]

Here is the thread to my Bessophone:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=61956" target="_blank

BessophoneFront.JPG

[Tabor]

Here is one I just put together. I converted a 3v top action York to 4v front action (wrapped everything backwards) & added a top pull for the 4th run using the similar-to-York-looking Reynolds valveset.

[Art Hovey]

VinNobile+me-w.jpg

Yorkaphone: York body with Miraphone 1270 valve section, 4th valve tubing re-routed

[k001k47]

This could be yours ($500), but you'll need to hurry or you'll miss out !

York #3.jpg

[roweenie]

This could be yours ($500), but you'll need to hurry or you'll miss out !

York #3.jpg

Is the small bell for playing Bydlo, or is it just for echo effects?

[roweenie]

Is the small bell for playing Bydlo, or is it just for echo effects?

You needn't concern yourself with features that are put in place exclusively for use by advanced players.

Ah, of course. I should have known that such a fine instrument would be wasted in the hands of anyone not destined to play in one of our nation's best orchestras.

I hope that one of our many Tubenet phenoms will snap it up before it is too late - maybe it might even show up in the "Horns That Won Gigs" thread........