TubeNet

http://www.wwbw.com/B-S-3098-Series-5-V ... 14610.wwbw

Has anyone actually seen one of these or is WWBW just confused?

Comments from real world experience appreciated.

My teacher actually has one. The horn is really heavy due to the weight of the bell ring. Very good tuba !

I don't see an option for a recording bell, which leads me to ask: What advantage is there to having a detachable bell?

Maybe it makes it easier to travel with, but I doubt it.

Am I missing something?

There are some who believe that the ring for a detachable bell assembly also has great effect on how a horn projects. A very similar belief as using a belt around the bell throat to deaden it somewhat. I have heard of players intentionally cutting a bell and having this detachable bell system added just for this reason. I've never seen a PT horn with such a bell so maybe this is one of those cases.

I assume it will, depending on placement, work as MW tone-ring when they used the back in the days.

I was playing with the idea of mounting that on one of my Ebs, then having two bells (and also two leadpipes)


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In my mind the playing change is probably too subtle to really matter to anyone but a tuba player.

BUT, I could imagine some significant benefit for air travel. 95% of damage to ANY tuba when flying and shipping occurs to the bell flair. Putting the body and bell in two separate flight cases would quite probably dramatically reduce BOTH risk of damage *and* cut down on oversize/overweight fees.

Anyone that has flown in Europe in particular knows that the rules for size and weight are quite onerous for checking a large tuba. I feel like the detachable bell might be a design change in response to filling that need.

My thoughts... based on not much.