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I've had lots of Eb sousas. King, Reynolds, and Conn 4V ones and a myriad of three-bangers. I've come to the conclusion that the 4th valve on an Eb tuba/sousa is pretty much useless for low-range stuff. It's OK to get some of the stuffiness out of an E natural (2-4 instead of 1-2-3) and OK for F (4 instead of 1-3)... but otherwise the 4th valve is pretty useless... at least to me. If I want to play low... I take a BBb horn. In my humble opinion, Eb sousas are generally worthless. I still have a Martin 'medium' Eb sousa that is waiting on a valve job (has been for three years!) I may just break down and get rid of it.

NOW ... an Eb helicon coupled to a 150 watt amp is an entirely different story .... but still, a 4th valve would just tend to complicate things.

I had a small Besson Eb sousa for many years which I resuced from a dumpster at my wife's school. I often wish I had taken the other 2 out of the dumpster too. This horn had a very focused and clean sound and intonation was very good. It was a tank in that it was made with very heavy guage brass, as most Bessons are and was very heavy for a small horn. I think that is what helped give it its clear focused sound. The problem was it was rather small and did not have a real big sound but it played extremely well. Sometimes I do regret trading it for a BBb sousa. Although the guy I gave it to still has it so I know where it is.

ken k

ken k wrote:I It was a tank in that it was made with very heavy guage brass, as most Bessons are and was very heavy for a small horn.

Not so much any more. You can just about make a nice dent in the bottom bow of a 777 Eb pressing with your thumb.

Bloke and Tubatinker, thank you for a great discussion. My Eb King recording tuba has a flat 8th partial which you guys made me feel better about. It weighs a bunch. It has nice false tones so I no longer regret having three valves and you should hear it thru a 1,200 amp P.A..

Well, I first started playing tuba on a 26K in college, and it seemed to me to be a great horn without too many problems, much better than most Eb uprights I've tried since, so I guess that tells you where my ear was (before it got MUCH worse... )

I prefer Heinz!

Heinz is ketchup, all the rest are catsup!

tubatooter1940 wrote:Bloke and Tubatinker, thank you for a great discussion. My Eb King recording tuba has a flat 8th partial which you guys made me feel better about.

Intonation problems kinda goes with the territory. My old King 1235 (Eb) fixed recording bell tuba is a joy to play but there is no way for the A, Ab, and C all to be played in tune.... no matter where you put the 1st and 2nd slides