TubeNet

Hello all, I have been trying to find the tread on here about a modification you can do to your tuning slide on a F tuba, to smooth out the low C. I'm eager to to do, but I have no clear instruction how to, let alone what the finished product is suppose to look like. Any help would be very helpful!

Curmudgeon wrote:There are several PRACTICEs that some technicians PRACTICE. Many of these PRACTICEs invole the PRACTICE of sleeving certain legs of tuning slides. This PRACTICE, in effect, adds a choke point, and thus resistance, to a wide open instrument. I have had some PRACTICE at this technique and recently made a couple of sleeves for a customer.

I really thought he might have as easily spent a few more minutes... playing his tuba rather than spending money.

Although, in some cases, the PRACTICE of sleeving certain spots on a tuba does improve an instrument.

Are you trying to imply something?

I sense there might be a hidden message there.

Shots fired? LOL

TheHatTuba wrote:

Curmudgeon wrote:There are several PRACTICEs that some technicians PRACTICE. Many of these PRACTICEs invole the PRACTICE of sleeving certain legs of tuning slides. This PRACTICE, in effect, adds a choke point, and thus resistance, to a wide open instrument. I have had some PRACTICE at this technique and recently made a couple of sleeves for a customer.

I really thought he might have as easily spent a few more minutes... playing his tuba rather than spending money.

Although, in some cases, the PRACTICE of sleeving certain spots on a tuba does improve an instrument.

Are you trying to imply something?

Hidden? It's in plain sight. PT-10s play really well in tune, or maybe I just play in tune. I've played like 6 different PT-10s and all of them are good. I was close to buying a PT-10 over my 18 whenever I was shopping for an F tuba, but the 18 is just more up my alley. Are you sure you need a tuning stick?

I'm not sure, hence why I decided to ask on here. To give some context on this horn, this is a horn that was given to the school and then thrashed by idiots for a little over a decade. If it played anywhere close to what it used to, then I wouldn't be out here looking for some solutions that go beyond just practicing and working the finicky nature of the bass tuba.

An old teacher of mine, after playing the horn, recommended that I ask around about that (sleeves on the main slide), since he said that the low C could be noticeably smoothed out. I wouldn't mind having a smoother low registrar (or just a smoother low C), and I'm sure the next person who borrows this horn wouldn't mind it either!

Do you have a good repair guy/gal within 250 miles? I've seen a lot of people post about them on here, I've personally just never owned a horn with such horrid intonation that I would have to worry with it. I don't own tubas like that, you being in a completely different situation though, I understand.

If I were you I would be very careful about doing this yourself, hence the question about a repair guy. I'm blessed to have Bloke 2 and 1/2 hours from my front porch. If you had someone like him, or someone you could ship it to I know they could do it, and it probably wouldn't charge you an arm and a leg.

Good luck!

Curmudgeon wrote:

TubaZac2012 wrote:

Crusty thee clown wrote:Although, in some cases, the PRACTICE of sleeving certain spots on a tuba does improve an instrument.

Are you trying to imply something?

Hidden? ... Are you sure you need a tuning stick?

[/quote]
This made my day.

I do have Dan Oberloh's shop a few hours away from my place, so that is an option. There's also another tech that I go to whenever I am in possession of borrowed horns in my teacher's town (Vancouver), so I do have options!

I've heard and read great things from Dan, so that's where I'd go.

If the 4th valve tubing has little bracing, you can experience unwanted sympathetic vibrations. Adding an extra brace to one of my F's did wonders, and I know of a repairman who did the same to another horn.
Outside of that, you could always try fingering 13 or 125 and see if that slots better.

Also, a lot of focused practice comes to mind - starting on that low C and slowly playing the scale degrees (major and minor) 1, 2, 1, 3, 1, 4, 1, 5, 1, 6, 1, 7, 1, 8 and then back from the higher C - 8, 1, 7, 1, 6, 1, 5, 1, 4, 1, 3, 1, 2, 1
That simple exercise seems to help work out problem notes.

I play horns in two keys and if I am not careful to do things correctly, it can go badly from insufficient preparation. The low end of the small horn and the high end of the big horn are the first things to suffer.

I too have a PT-10P. I do not have any issues with my low C at all... Spend a few minutes just playing that low C and around it. Start. Stop. Maintaining. Work on those aspects.

ouch wrote:I'm not sure, hence why I decided to ask on here. To give some context on this horn, this is a horn that was given to the school and then thrashed by idiots for a little over a decade. If it played anywhere close to what it used to, then I wouldn't be out here looking for some solutions that go beyond just practicing and working the finicky nature of the bass tuba.

An old teacher of mine, after playing the horn, recommended that I ask around about that (sleeves on the main slide), since he said that the low C could be noticeably smoothed out. I wouldn't mind having a smoother low registrar (or just a smoother low C), and I'm sure the next person who borrows this horn wouldn't mind it either!

If the tuba has been heavily used (abused?) for a decade, there could be any number of issues that a good tech could readily identify and correct. In addition to the other recommendations, you might also want to try different mouthpiece combinations. If you are using an incompatible mouthpiece, the tuba will not perform properly. But my bet is that the tuba has been ill used and needs servicing and cleaning first.

may I suggest a well-placed dent?