The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

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Matt Walters
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The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by Matt Walters »

One of my regrets in life is that I did not keep a daily journal over the years. There have been great friendships, kindnesses, and experiences I wish I could remember better. When I was given the chance to play "Big Carl" and learn his secret, I just had to write it down. I was asked not to publish what I wrote until after the New York Times got to do their article first.
For my fellow "Tuba Geeks":

The Carl Fischer Tuba 14 May 2014
By, Matt Walters

The legendary Carl Fischer BBBb tuba is no longer gazing out to passers-by from the old 62 Cooper Square Building in New York City. Over the decades I heard many stories about “The Giant Carl Fischer” tuba and I never got to see it hanging there above the revolving doorway to the hallowed halls of Carl Fischer. I did get to see and pose next to the giant Besson BBBb tuba of Harvard University fame. It has been well documented that Besson made two other giant tubas like the one at Harvard. The tuba at Carl Fischer was often reported to be the 2nd of those.
The Carl Fischer tuba has been moved to Carl Fischer’s new headquarters. When asked by Elizabeth Holub from Carl Fischer if Dillon Music would look at the tuba and see what it needed to get it back into playing condition, Mr. Steve Dillon said “YES!” Tuesday the 13th of May 2014, Steve Dillon, Josh Stavola, and Matt Walters took the train then a taxi ride from Dillon Music in Woodbridge, New Jersey to 48 Wall Street, NYC to see the Carl Fischer tuba. With a few hand tools and such in hand, the adventure began.
There “Big Carl” was resting on his bell in the corner of a conference room. The mystery began from first sight. Though proportioned tall and skinny like the giant Harvard tuba, the slide tubing wrap of the Carl Fischer Tuba was different and the tuba looked bigger than I remember the Harvard tuba was.
The Carl Fischer tuba has a main tuning loop in the leadpipe before the valve section whereas the Harvard tuba has a main tuning loop afterwards. Also, the 3rd valve loops were drastically different. We laid the tuba down flat and started measurements.
The missing giant Besson tuba was supposed to have a 33” bell flair. The Carl Fischer tuba had a bell diameter of 40.5”, was 93” tall, 33” wide at the bottom bow, 34.75” wide at the mouthpiece receiver. The Carl Fischer tuba wasn’t the same as the Harvard Besson tuba. Indeed, “Big Carl” was bigger.
The bracing was different from Besson bracing and Steve Dillon was the first to say, “It looks European like a Bohland & Fuchs.” Indeed, in Carl Fisher Archives we found a letter where an older employee said he thought it was made by Bohland & Fuchs, in Graslitz. In support of that hypothesis, we found “Austria” was stamped on the mouthpiece receiver that has a .904” inside diameter opening.
The number three finger button of 1.465” diameter was missing, but the number one and 3 ‘valves’ could be pushed down and would bounce back up. There was nothing sticking up out of the #2 top valve cap. When we removed the #2 top valve cap, a spring, valve stem, and a washer came out. No number 2 Finger button. Sad to say but as far back as 1952, there was a picture of the tuba already missing a finger button.

Was the #2 valve missing? We reached down inside and were relieved to feel something was still there though not moving. The dread was what if we have to make a replacement valve to get this tuba playing again? We opened up the #3 top valve cap to see what the stem section was supposed to be like and get a look at the valve. No valve came out. We noticed that the washer from the # 2 casing was to be soldered onto the valve stem to keep the spring from sliding up the stem. We also realized a brass object shaped like a thread spool was missing from number two. Why was there a spool with a spring that pushed just the valve stem up? Was the valve so big and heavy that it needed some sort of double spring system? Is this just the top of a piston like a trumpet piston and it came undone from the rest of the valve still stuck in the casing?
With flashlight in hand and crawling on the floor for the first look inside the valve casing that is 9.625” tall and 2.47” in diameter, the big surprise came. There were NO VALVES in the casing! This tuba was never built to be played as a valved instrument. What we felt was hollow tubing in the valve section with no way to connect to the individual slide tubing. There were pieces of the valve loop knuckles going into the casing where they were soldered in just like is done on modern tubas but not machined out to make room for the pistons.
With the tuba put back together and all measurements written down, we stood the tuba up on its bottom bow. The bell was nearly touching the ceiling as I wondered if I could make a sound out of this giant horn. When, and by whom in the past had this horn last spoke? I fit a tuba mouthpiece into the mouthpiece receiver that swallowed the mouthpiece up to the outer bowel and in the Tuesday morning of May 13th, 2014 I began to play The Giant Carl Fischer Tuba. All the Carl Fisher employees came over to see the beloved Carl Fisher Tuba speak. IT PLAYS! You see, there was one straight piece of tubing passing from one side of the valve casing to the other so that the Carl Fischer Tuba is really a giant Sub-Contra-Bass Bugle in BBBb shaped like a tuba.
The Carl Fischer Tuba has been steadfastly working since day one. He can be played and for so many years, the sentinel of 62 Cooper Square has invited anyone and everyone into the world of music.
Matt Walters
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by tbn.al »

Thanks Matt. Maybe you should write more? Good piece!
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by bisontuba »

Matt-
Great article!! Very neat--oh, Mike Lynch--this should be in the next ITEA Journal with pics!!
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by bobd0 »

Great piece, Matt! Thanks so much for sharing!
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by smitwill1 »

jonesmj wrote:Matt-
Great article!! Very neat--oh, Mike Lynch--this should be in the next ITEA Journal with pics!!
Mark
You beat me to it! Definitely worth the pages in the journal--especially with plenty of pictures!
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by Lew »

Great story Matt. Did you get to check it out when Steve was there for the Times article too, or was this at the same time? Now that I'm In PA I will have to stop by the shop some time.
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by iiipopes »

Any thought of rebuilding the valve block to make it functional?
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by windshieldbug »

Thanks for the story Matt!
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by eupher61 »

Hmmm... double posted and unable to delete.
Last edited by eupher61 on Tue Sep 30, 2014 3:34 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by eupher61 »

And convert it to front loaded 4+1! Maybe a rose brass leadpipe.... and a spit valve on every slide. . And an adjustable gap receiver... and MAW valves. Heck, make it compensating. With silver trim. Cryogenically treated.
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by Matt Walters »

There are a bunch of posts here I'd like to respond to. To everyone who liked my story, thank you. Just like Derek Fenstermacher, I was all smiles from the privilege of playing "Big Carl". My turn was back in May and I wanted to burst knowing the secret that he was made only as a Bugle. I was asked not to post anything on my own until after Carl Fisher had their chance.
There is no sense trying to make working pistons for him. He would no longer be original and working pistons would not have made him any more productive. "Big Carl's" first job was to stand up in the big window where he would grab attention and spark the imagination. Carl Fisher has old pictures of him next to a giant string bass. I wish I could have seen that with my own eyes. I have enjoyed many a beer with some tuba buddies and heard the tales of them seeing "Big Carl" when he was hanging up in the Carl Fisher building. Again, he absolutely works in that he did and still does the job he was made for. He grabs attention and makes people smile. Would a 2 octave chromatic air horn arrangement make a dump truck more useful? I think not.
And now that we talk of "Big Carl" and tubas, he's done his job yet again. One evening after a couple too many beers, my tuba friends and I are bound to start talking of what Wagner would sound like played on a valved sub-contrabass BBBb tuba. "Cut to CC?" Still too big but I have a giant Holton that if the BBb to CC cut doesn't come out good enough, I may take it back apart and make it into a FF tuba.
We will never know how many people "Big Carl" brought into the world of music but I know he did his job just the way he was built.
Matt Walters
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by tbn.al »

If it looks like a tuba and quacks like a tuba................................maybe a one legged tuba?
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by windshieldbug »

tuben wrote:So.... As "Big Carl" is only a bugle, does that mean it's not a tuba?

Maybe a Alpentuba...
Instead of talking to your plants, if you yelled at them would they still grow, but only to be troubled and insecure?
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by windshieldbug »

"Big Carl" in contemporaneous action...

Image
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Re: The Carl Fisher Tuba Story, by Matt Walters

Post by bisontuba »

Very neat
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