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Hello All,

So to those of you that have done something like this, what are the difficulties in converting an Eb top action, to a Front action F. Assuming the valves have already been obtained, what other difficulties can arise during such an endeavor? and the big question: Was it worth it in the end??

Aside from cutting everything including the open bugle and all of the tuning circuits about 12%, selecting a valve section that approximates the original bore, and taking the main bugle apart and reversing the wrap.... if might be a fun project.

You might as well count on having at least five valves while you have everything apart.

Would it be best to use the original Valve set and just reroute the Tubes, or to start with a front action set and adjust as necessary?

TubadudeCA wrote:Would it be best to use the original Valve set and just reroute the Tubes, or to start with a front action set and adjust as necessary?

Start with a front-action valve section. The piston ports leave the cluster at different angles between the two styles. Converting a top-action to a front-action is LOTS of trouble and will look goofy at best.

Here's a glimpse of what you are attempting to do.... http://thevillagetinker.com/yamaha_yeb3 ... ersion.htm

the elephant wrote:1914 Holton Monster Eb with 4 front pistons and a 5th rotary valve...

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/per ... 9ec71d.jpg

That's a fine looking tuba Wade.... I love it!

After 2 other attempts at this, my last project was a York Eb, 3 valve, top action converted to an F, 4 valves, front action. I used a York front action valve set and had to have the fourth valve added by scrounging a valve off of a York sousaphone. The hard work was done by one of the designers at a major instrument manufacturer.

As an Eb tuba it was pretty good. A little hollow in the low register, a really beautiful middle register and a quirky high register. After it was cut to F it retained all of those same characteristics.

If I had a pretty good Eb tuba, I would try to make it a better Eb. It won't become a world beater F tuba because you cut it. Most cut horns that I've played had some good points and a lot of questionable ones. Not worth the effort or expense in my experience.

the elephant wrote: ...It has to be an excellent horn in Eb to net you something playable in F

The best argument I've ever heard for "don't bother".

To come up with a really great instrument takes an enormous amount of engineering, and for the most part, it is best to benefit from the hard work of designers and buy what the manufacturers have come up with.

That said, I have been considering making an F tuba out of an Eb, just to say I've tried it. I have a 1932 Conn monster Eb with the main slide in the leadpipe. By removing that loop and fabricating a straight-in pipe, part of the cut will be done already. There are inner, smaller branch tubes that will lend themselves well to this, and with the addition of a new 4-front-pistion valveset and 5th rotor, it will be roughly the size of a YBF-822. It would be a large F, but still usable, I think.

The instrument is a marvelous player, but alas a raw brass 3-valver. It needs to be completely disassembled for buffing before being refinished anyway, and the added valves will make it completely chromatic. I'll have to fabricate a main tuning slide assembly after the valveset, but the branch in that spot is plenty long to cut and modify that way. When it is done, I'll post photos.

Don't do it, Lee! Make a kick-*** 5-valve Eb out of it, and save yourself the headaches!

Tom Holtz wrote:Don't do it, Lee! Make a kick-*** 5-valve Eb out of it, and save yourself the headaches!

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