My 1903 Conn Eb

[Tubajug]

Got it! Looks great, but I have to install the linkage.

Wha..? No pictures?! C'mon man!

[dhbtoo]

I am pleased to know that you are enjoying the old horn. My name is Don Brannon, and I acquired that tuba in 1974 from a school that was throwing it away. Since I am primarily a trumpet player, the small bore was ideal for me. I played it with several ensembles, and I taught my stepson, Patrick, to play tuba on that horn.

If you look on the horn, there are 1 or 2 places (maybe more) where there is a hand etched number preceded by the letters BPI. The BPI stsands for Board of Public Instruction, and all school property was so marked.

I was a first year band director when I found the horn under the band room. It was not on the school's inventory at that time, and it needed some repair. I felt an Eb could add something to the band program as it developed, so the principal agreed to let me send it off for minor repairs, the school would pick up the tab, and it would be added to the inventory. When the horn came back from the shop it wouldn't play -- air wouldn't go through it. I sent it back to the shop, and it came back with a note explaining that they couldn't repair it because they couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.

When I reported the above to the principal, I explained that the initial repair bill had been refunded. I was informed that the principal had taken the tuba off the inventory again, and I was instructed to throw the tuba away. I asked permission to use it as a trade for future repairs explaining that it would be used as scrap brass. The principal said it was board policy that discarded school property was to be thrown away. I said I would take care of it -- and I threw it away in the trunk of my car.

It took some time figure out what was wrong -- why the air wouldn't go through. It seems that when the man disassembled the horn to clean it, he put one of the slides in an incorrect tube. That meant one of the other slides wouldn't fit into the last two available tubes without some modification. Rather than entertain the notion that he may have put the old horn together incorrectly, he chose to cut the remaining slide in the middle of the bow and fashion an extender. You can't miss the offending slide. And when you look at the cluster of slides, you can see how the repairman could have made the initial mistake.

By the way, I used a homemade mouthpiece on it for years. It was made out of surgical grade stainless steel in a machine shop in Augusta, Georgia in the 1940s. It had a BBb shank, but it suited me just fine.

I hope you enjoy the old horn for many years.

Don

[k001k47]

Very cool!

[Lectron]

Very nice Mark. Very nice

Hope it works as good as intended (and looks)

[zangerzzz]

Would you post a couple of pics of the complete horn?
I'm interested to see it.
ThnkZ!

[Tubajug]

Beautiful horn Mark!

[Tubajug]

Let me be the first to say, "Fantastic!" I've really enjoyed watching your project! I love seeing the finished project! Well done!

[dhbtoo]

Looking forward to hearing you play the horn.

When I got the horn in '74, I had no idea how old the horn actually was, and it had not occurred to me to have the serial number checked. At that time I figured the horn to be 30 years or less. It was in the early '90s that a friend of mine thought the check on the age. He was hoping that it was a centennial horn -- only off by a year.

Being a trumpet player, I had no difficulty at all learning Eb fingerings. I actually found it helpful to end my trumpet practice with a few minutes on that tuba. It kept my chops loose.

I wish you many happy years with it.

[Lectron]

That is one good looking tuba Mark!

I'm really looking forward to getting mine (3V)

It was also a nice story contributed by dhbtoo

[MartyNeilan]

Try to find an alternate fingering for that A. You may even be able to play it off the normally unusable 7th partial with a 5th valve combination - maybe 5-1?

[Bob Kolada]

Just pull the second slide for that (and 2-4!); that's what I did with mine.

[MartyNeilan]

Pretty sure I tried 2-4, but I cant remember the results. I'm going to spend a lot more time on the horn and with different mouthpieces before I worry too much about it.

2-4 is going to come off the 8th partial. Try 5-1, as well as 5-2 and 5-1-2. That is going to play the A off the extremely flat 7th partial. The 7th partial is normally only usable on a slide trombone, but since the 5th valve is an "in between" length one of those just might work.

[Bob Kolada]

My first one had a full length 2nd slide, I used it quite often for 123. I don't remember what the current one has.

[TheGoyWonder]

In my brief time with a vintage Conn Eb I too suffered top-of-the staff area intonation, but flatness. Yup, a lil valve leakage will get yer pitch down up there. Between that and the dead-in-the-water low Bb and below, it was not worth the great midrange sound, husky tone, and clarity.

For me the fix was getting my money back and a Reynolds Contempora. I do miss the archetype American sound from the Conn, that sousaphone "chewiness" from just an effortless-playing, 3/4-sorta thing.

[Tubajug]

I still think that coin is a great touch... Nice horn Mark!

[dhbtoo]

Hey, Mark

I shared with you a couple of yars ago how ai came into possession of the old Conn Eb. Now the story of parting with it......

My wife and I made the decision to move to The Villages, Florida -- a retirement/golf cart community. Along with the move came the decision to downsize. Not realizing how much music was available for instrumentalists in The Villages, I decided to keep my trumpet and cornet and get rid of all other instruments. I listed the tuba on Craigslist in Atlanta, and after several days, a tuba student from Orlando, Florida was in town for a funeral and saw the add. To make a long story short, he paid me just over half of what I wanted, and my move was several pounds lighter and a few cubic feet smaller. The kid sold it to you in less than 48 hours.

I wasn't in The Villages very long before I discovered a couple of very significant things. 1) There are several instrumental groups here inclucing 3 community bands, a brass band, a wind ensemble, various ethnic bands, and several like instrument ensembles. 2) While there are many fine trumpet players and many tuba players, fine tuba players are at a premium. You probably know where this is going. I had begun to wish I had kept the tuba. When the brass band got critically low on tubas (basses) I dicided to buy an Eb tuba to fill some of the void. I found a sweet deal on a York 377 3 valve which I played for almost a year before someone offered a trade for a Wessex Champion.

I currently play tuba in one of the concert bands, the brass band, and the Sunshine Brass Quintet.

All of this is to say, it seems all things worked out as they should. You obviously knew what to do with the old Conn, and I'm glad you got it. Had I not gotten rid of her, I would not have been in the position to get what I have and enjoy playing so much. I how you are enjoying the old firl as much as I am enjoying being a bonafide tuba player.

[Bob Kolada]

Boy I wouldn't mind a copy of one of these (with some slide changes, top 1st and 4th slides; I wouldn't even mind not having a 5th valve), hint hint...

[jacobg]

I have the same horn. Mine is slightly older, from the Worcester era.
What mouthpiece are you using? Did you put a modern lead pipe on it? I use a Wick 3.