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I love the sound of the new British F tuba, but do not really have enough spare time to practice to get my F tuba playing up to speed, mainly being an Eb tuba player having grown up playing in a brass band. Wessex has for a while made the Bombino which is a great small Eb tuba - so I had the idea of putting a 13 inch bell on it to be the same as the British F. I took the resulting tuba to orchestra rehearsal earlier this week playing Brahms Academic Festival Overture and Walton Symphony #1 - and wow did it not half work - I adore this tuba! The conductor commented multiple times how he liked the sound and how it is perfect for the music and I felt exactly the same from behind the bell. The notes really popped with excellent low register projecting through the orchestra without being tubby or over-powering. Needless to say the new tuba will be added to the Wessex range as the TE361 Bombino-Imperial. This tuba as near as possible provides the unique sound of the British F from an Eb tuba. I think I will be playing a lot!

Pretty!
I'm not familiar with the bell sizes between the two - I'm assuming you put a larger bell on it?

I've grown up on a 3/4 Bb, and my 'new' Eb is my current favorite toy. It's actually larger than my 3/4 with an enormous bell. Incredibly different sound, still exploring the ranges (and convincing my brain to process the different fingerings!)

basslizard wrote:Pretty!
I'm not familiar with the bell sizes between the two - I'm assuming you put a larger bell on it?

It is actually a smaller diameter bell. I surprisingly find the lower register is opened up with a smaller bell and it makes the tuba more responsive.

I keep getting tempted by a used bombino down at Baltimore Brass. I should probably work more on actually learning to play the tuba I have first though... hmm.

I'm also eyeing that one but I'm going to have to have a lot of good days in a row before I would even consider being serious. So I'm not competition for you any time in the near future.

Nice to see some love for small bell Ebs, the trend these days seems to be huge bores and bells. I love my Imperial, but it’s getting tired; Wessex prices should make It a tough choice whether to overhaul or replace.