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I finally got my BAT (well it's a little early for Christmas, but what the heck)
It's NOT pretty, but what comes out of the bell when you play it is almost unbelievable!!!
This thing has a HUGE sound & it is just as easy to play as my King 2341. It actually has the
same bore & uses King valves on 1-2-3 & a slightly larger Conn valve on the 4th. I'd like to
thank Blake for parting with this horn & for his gracious hospitality & for making arrangements
at USC for me to come down to L.A. and give this beast a try. I was actually hooked after the
first two notes: low Bb & low F I would also like to thank both Blake & Mitch for putting up
with all of my questions & for sharing their thoughts about this horn, but most of all, I'd like to
thank Sam Gnagey for making this spectacular sounding instrument! It is truly a work of art and
one of the most fantastic sounding tubas I have ever played! I'm going to stick with the name that
Mitch gave her: "Ugly Betty"
Below are some side by side photos with my 1291 clone & my King 2341. I suppose a good buffing is in order to make it nice & shiny again like is was back when Mitch had it I'd sure like to know how that cute little Thor got so tiny

Shine it up? or leave it the way it is & let it develop its own natural patina?

Neat!!

Congrats. Looking good!
How's the pedal and surroundings?

The low range is absolutely amazing! This thing sounds like a subwoofer down low & the pedal notes
are easier to hit on this horn than anything I've ever played before This horn likes slow, warm air &
doesn't take much effort or wind to put out a BIG sound.
Bob, this is a BBb Martin, it wasn't cut to a CC & the intonation is right on, as a matter of fact it actually
plays just a tad better in tune than my King 2341. Talk about resonance, on the low F your can feel the
whole horn resonate! Especially the bottom bow, heck, I think my nutz were even resonating

Does it come with a porter to lug it around?

tofu wrote:Does it come with a porter to lug it around?

Yeah............ME!

Congrats, here is one vote for letting it get it's natural patina.

Ugly Betty? Yeah right, that thing is beautiful!

TubaMusikMann wrote:The low range is absolutely amazing! This thing sounds like a subwoofer down low & the pedal notes
are easier to hit on this horn than anything I've ever played before This horn likes slow, warm air &
doesn't take much effort or wind to put out a BIG sound.
Bob, this is a BBb Martin, it wasn't cut to a CC & the intonation is right on, as a matter of fact it actually
plays just a tad better in tune than my King 2341. Talk about resonance, on the low F your can feel the
whole horn resonate! Especially the bottom bow, heck, I think my nutz were even resonating

Mine's a little different with the body and branches from a Martin BBb the bell from a cerveney and the rest the same as yours except maybe the Rotor is yours from Europe??(forget where in Europe) Is yours compact like mine?? Mine is 33" tall and the bell is about 20"sIt's short fat and full of sound!<S>..................................................BB

Hi Bob, mine is almost 39" tall & is pretty much an all original 6/4 BBb Martin with Sam adding
his very well thought out design valve cluster with the graduated bore & the 5th rotor.

TubaMusikMann wrote:Hi Bob, mine is almost 39" tall & is pretty much an all original 6/4 BBb Martin with Sam adding
his very well thought out design valve cluster with the graduated bore & the 5th rotor.

I don't know if mine has a graduated bore or not...By the way what is a graduated bore?? the valve cluster sounds like mine....does yours get water in the upper slides??06 and 07? I sent a pic I'm going to use to find out how to tune my horn..........BB

bigbob wrote:I don't know if mine has a graduated bore or not...By the way what is a graduated bore?? the valve cluster sounds like mine....does yours get water in the upper slides??06 and 07? I sent a pic I'm going to use to find out how to tune my horn..........BB[/b]

Bob, a graduated bore means that it gradually increases in size (diameter). The King valves (1-2-3)
are a .687" bore and the Conn 4th valve has a .720" bore & the 5th rotor is a .748" So you see the bore
gradually gets larger as it goes through the valveset. Your horn is a beauty Bob!!! It's definitely got that
"tubby the tuba" look
I haven't noticed any abnormal water collection spots yet, but tonight will be my first rehearsal with my new
BAT


Craig

Not at all Wade, as always, I value your opinion greatly & I understood that you were just relaying
what you knew (and heard) about these horns. Yes, a frankenhorn it is, but not altered the way most
of the CC horns are & this one was just re-plumbed in the valve circuits & a 4th & 5th were added.
The King valveset is only about .020" smaller than the original Martin valve bore of .710" so that is
not really much of a difference at all. The Conn 4th & the 5th rotor are only a tad larger than the
original Martin, so I think that really helped retain the original playing characteristics & intonation.
I think Sam has really got the bore sizes right on the money & that makes for an amazing sounding
BAT & also one that is easy to play. The main thing for me, was being able to play it & see for myself
& I was totally blown away by the sound & the intonation. I dug up an old thread from the archives on
this very same horn shortly after Sam built it. The things I see & hear in this instrument are exactly
what Sam had said almost a decade ago. The thread was appropriately titled "Ultimate 6/4 Martin BBb"
A quote from Sam about these BIG 6/4 Martins "I would be reluctant to cut them. This one plays so damn
well as a BBb. Truly amazing playing characteristics for a BBb horn"
http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/feb2004 ... 65762.html" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

...

NDSPTuba wrote:Congrats, here is one vote for letting it get it's natural patina.

Here's another.

Alright, I'll leave it alone & let it develop its own look. I have to admit that the raw brass look
is sort of bad-***

MartyNeilan wrote:

NDSPTuba wrote:Congrats, here is one vote for letting it get it's natural patina.

Here's another.

Here's another.