HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

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apkujala
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by apkujala »

Nirschl Kaiser Bb 5valve+trigger (B&F copy) 26.4lbs
B&S F 5valve 15.4lbs
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T. J. Ricer
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by T. J. Ricer »

By the bathroom scale method, my Nirschl York weighs 24.6 pounds. No idea how accurate that is...

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Art Hovey
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by Art Hovey »

I have a clone of a Miraphone 191 BBb, 4 rotary valves. I think it could be called a "5/4" size tuba.
It weighs about 15 pounds and sounds great when I play it. (It's a plastic Tiger.)
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by Bill Troiano »

Hey, Art. My sousaphone only weighs around 17 lbs. (unless I want to use the whole thing.)
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by toobagrowl »

So I just weighed several of my tubas (not all), plus a friend's tuba I keep here 'in storage' for him.

FrankenHolton 4pv Eb --> 17 lbs
'Dillon' Holton 5v Eb --> 18.5 lbs
[Friend's tuba] Mirafone (circa 1960) 186 BBb --> 18.5 lbs
Altered/customized M-W 2155R CC --> 23 lbs
:tuba:
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Aaron Tindall
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by Aaron Tindall »

Yamayork - 20.7 pounds
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by MaryAnn »

I don't own a scale, but right now, too much.
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by greenbean »

B&S 3301 4/4 BBb (4v): 19 lb
B&S Musica tall BBb (4v): 20 lb
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by IceePirate »

I used to march a King 2350 in high school a few years ago. I did weigh it while I had it. With everything such as mouthpiece/bits/neck/bell, the weight came out to ~55lbs. I think my tuba (forget brand, I think king too) for concert band, which looked similar to a 186, weighed around 25-30lbs. I never really had back trouble after the first few weeks, shoulder stopped hurting after a month or so during 2.5hr practices and competition days. Still 19 though, and I would love to get my hands on a Wessex BAT or a 7/4, but alas, I haven't the funds with college and all. Plus, not all that practical for my use case, but I still want it! :D
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by greenbean »

IceePirate wrote:I used to march a King 2350 in high school a few years ago. I did weigh it while I had it. With everything such as mouthpiece/bits/neck/bell, the weight came out to ~55lbs. I think my tuba (forget brand, I think king too) for concert band, which looked similar to a 186, weighed around 25-30lbs. I never really had back trouble after the first few weeks, shoulder stopped hurting after a month or so during 2.5hr practices and competition days. Still 19 though, and I would love to get my hands on a Wessex BAT or a 7/4, but alas, I haven't the funds with college and all. Plus, not all that practical for my use case, but I still want it! :D
Am I right in thinking these are ballpark estimates? And that you never actually used a scale?...
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by tubeast »

I guess it would be interesting to put the horn´s weight in relation to the weight of its user.
My big one (Willson BBb with a 5th valve) weighs about 15 kg, which will be roughly 12% of my body mass.
Not THAT much, really.
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by Lee Stofer »

GB-50/G-50 5-valve CC/Stofer 5-valve CC...........23 lbs. The instrument is short and compact, but a full 4/4 size tuba.

Having weighed and shipped so many tubas over the past 20 years, I'd guess that greenbean's weight for the King 2350 sousaphone would be accurate, only if the case was included.
Valves are the single heaviest component in a tuba. I was impressed several years ago when I worked on an older Mirafone 185 4-rotor CC tuba. It tipped the scales at 13 lbs. If you want a lighter-weight tuba and do not want to downsize to a smaller tuba, find a comparable size with less valves. Playing a fine instrument with less valves is OK, really.
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by toobagrowl »

I played King sousas back in the day, including the 2350, and the only way one would weigh over 50 lbs is if it was complete in it's hard wood case :!:
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by greenbean »

Just to be clear... the 55 lb sousaphone was not mine. I was questioning the plausibility of a 55 lb souza!

I do own one sousaphone...

A fiberglass Olds: 15 lb
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by toobagrowl »

@ greenbean, I know you were responding to iceepirate. I agree with you. I think Mr. Stofer got your post confused with his.

I also have a fiberglass sousaphone -- a Selmer Signet. It plays very well, I need to weigh it sometime. :P
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by Donn »

I think I've seen people claim weights in the vicinity of 50lbs for the Conn 40K. Mine's 31lbs.
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by IceePirate »

Maybe I was getting the model wrong then, it was a king sousa though. And I did weigh it, it came to around 55lbs.
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by Bill Troiano »

I asked Sam Gnagey to make me one of his CC tubas, but with only 4 valves. I received it via UPS yesterday. It plays great. I'm thinking of using it as a jazz tuba when I don't want to lug my sousaphone around. It has a 19.5 in York bell and bottom bow with the King 2341 valve set. I also asked Sam to install 2 strap hooks, as I plan to stand with it a lot.

Anyway it weighs 20.6 lbs.
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by Mike C855B »

greenbean wrote:... Am I right in thinking these are ballpark estimates? And that you never actually used a scale?...
Circumstances can distort perception. If you had asked me right after the one time ...thankfully... I had the "opportunity" to march in the Rose Parade, I would have told you my Conn sousaphone came in at, oh, 600, maybe 700 pounds. :P
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Re: HOW MUCH DOES YOUR TUBA WEIGH?

Post by bort »

Bill Troiano wrote:I asked Sam Gnagey to make me one of his CC tubas, but with only 4 valves. I received it via UPS yesterday. It plays great. I'm thinking of using it as a jazz tuba when I don't want to lug my sousaphone around. It has a 19.5 in York bell and bottom bow with the King 2341 valve set. I also asked Sam to install 2 strap hooks, as I plan to stand with it a lot.

Anyway it weighs 20.6 lbs.
C'mon Bill, we need a picture!
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