TubeNet

i am still looking for the lightest possible c-tuba to use while standing and moving. i play a lot of groovy funky basslines in a commercial brass band. i currertly use a very old cerveny "piggy" which weighs about 9 kilos. i recently had a slipped disc which causes me to look for an even lighter c-tuba for these jobs. are mirafones lighter? what about yamahas?

has anyone expierencied cutting down a Bb to a c-tuba for these types of jobs?

what is the lightest tuba on the market today?

my other tubas are: melton 2145, b&s east german c-tuba, gronitz bat and yamaha Eb

I don't know your financial situation but I would recommend finding a hand made horn that has hand rolled bows. There are only a very select few tubas out there that are this way, my Meinl Weston 2000 is built that way and it weighs less than my other tubas even though it's my biggest tuba. I wouldn't recommend that horn for your situation, but the other technique that they use is by expanded brass. Expanded brass is heavier because they have to use thicker brass to withstand the pressure of forming the bows which translates to more weight.

I know I haven't given you much to go on but if you can't find a sutible replacement you should seiously consider finding someone to make one like this custom.

Good luck
Jim L

Don't know what the weight is, but ever since my balance problem started I've come to appreciate my Mirafone 184 all the more.

A quick check showed viewtopic.php?p=60505#60505, for example

How about one of these? The 4 valve 4/4 comes in at about 16.5 lbs. The 3/4 3-valve BBb weighs a mere 12.7 lbs.

http://www.musik-glassl.de/news.html

The Josef Lidl LCB702, a 3/4 size C tuba, weighs 7 kg. I own the Bb version, the LBB-701, which also weighs 7 kg.

Cerveny tubas are already among the lighest tubas around. Alexander tubas are also lightweight, but 163 may be too big, maybe a 173. Also there is always the Yamaha 621 CC.

Mirafone 186, BBb with the old 16.5" bell weighs in at a comfortable 15 lbs.

Hi,
may I suggest a different approach to the problem?
You know how serious hiking backpacks have those sturdy, padded belts that will rest the whole weight on your hips rather than the shoulders ? The effect is that your shoulders and spine are not carrying the load at all. The shoulder straps are simply used to keep the thing upright.
Maybe something similar might do the trick.
Get a cheap (used?) backpack and cut off that belt.
Maybe it´s easier to get one of those athletic belts weight lifters use.
Using 1-2 adjustable straps with a hook on the horn´s bottom bow you could hook it to the belt (most of these have D-rings attached to carry aluminum bottles and other gadgets).
Just be sure you wear that belt low on your hips so it can rest on your pelvic bone and doesn´t mess with your breathing.
All your back needs to do now is balance the horn.

I haven´t tried this out myself, but now that I write about it I think I´m going to give it a shot.

There used to be a hip-borne harness that worked with the ball on Besson tubas. It was a little like the harnesses that are used by flag-bearers. Like this:



Something like this in conjunction with the Stewart stand might save your achin' back!
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Joe Baker, who thinks something like this could, as Tubeast suggests, be put together from backpack or fannypack parts.

i have tried what tubeast has suggested, i took a wide belt and use it on my hips. the only problem is that the cerveny piggy is a very short tuba and the leadpipe does not come up high enough.

i tried attaching the tuba to 2 metal rods which come up from the belt to form an upside down V. it works, but i find the center of gravity a bit too high. i think it will still work if i make the 2 rods a bit shorter, so i guess it's back to the drawing board.

I've got the little Weril 681 CC Yamacopy - It's a great little horn. Not too expensive and very light.