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Hi all!
I just purchased a Meinl Weston 18 Handy BBb tuba. I love it! Perfect size, beautiful tone, quick response, but it plays sharp (almost a 1/2 step). I've pulled slides, tried three different mouthpieces, and "lipped down" as much as I can. Still sharp. Any suggestions?

I can recommend that you take it to a highly skilled tech to search for leaks, they can have effects on the overall tuning of an instruement. And if all fails, the tech can probably rig up a main tuning slide extension to put it in the proper pitch center. I have had this issue with two of my horns. If you tech is a tubist, he can readily verify the intonation issues, and try to replicate them with you equipment.

Ben makes an excellent suggestion. Another two things to consider:

1) Your mouthpiece selection. Many horns respond quite a lot to a smallish mouthpiece. Just like some tubas will play flat if you plug in too big a mouthpiece. Maybe a deeper/bigger cup (without changing the rim size which I assume you already are comfortable with) would help bring pitch down.

2) If all else fails, consider adding tubing to the main tuning slide. I had to do this with a Rudy Meinl horn of mine and it worked great. You can consider oversized ferrules for the main slide itself or even adding tubing to each side to lengthen it more if needed. The good news is that if your repair technician does things right, this sort of modification is totally reversible. If you don't like the results, put things back the way they were and seek other solutions.

Good luck!

Thank you for the suggestions
Wade - How much of the problem is my face?? I know there can be a great deal of truth to that, but it made me laugh. Thanks!
The horn is new, so there shouldn't be anything roaming around inside (then again, it is a tuba... who knows!). I've played tuba for nearly 30 years, and I've never had this issue with a horn before. The 18 Handy is a "compressed" full size BBb tuba, though it has a slightly smaller bore. I'll have the horn looked at. Perhaps a few additions/tweaks are in order.
Thank you all so very much for your input. I greatly appreciate it!

tubachick1 wrote: The horn is new, so there shouldn't be anything roaming around inside (then again, it is a tuba... who knows!).

How about packing peanuts ? Not unheard of in new tubas, apparently.

FWIW, I sit next to a guy in community band who has an older model 18 that has a special main slide that he says is a good bit longer than the factory slide. He got it with the horn and I suspect it's the "low pitch" option for the US. It looks like a regular slide on the verge of falling out of the horn.

BTW, it is a very nice sounding horn.

I believe they're right. You have the European slide on that horn. Whoever you purchased it from should be able to get an "American Pitch" slide from the manufacturer and it should not cost you anything.

All the best to you.

Roger

When my horn was new I tried to make a bright sound on it, and I got myself in a rut of being uniformly sharp (very sharp). I was never uniform at anything before that. I got myself out this rut by buzzing away from the horn until the sharpness was replaced with normal again. I still have to be mindful of the tendency.