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I just recently acquired a Pan American Eb dated to 1951 according to the serial number. It plays 15-20 cents flat on every note. I’m using a Herco Eb mouthpiece. I can’t complain as the horn was a gift from a fellow tubist. However I would like to be able to play it in tune.

I have found no leaks from the receiver down to the 1st valve.

Does anyone have any suggestions before I have the main tuning slide cut?

Thanks,

Jim

Is it the right shank?

It appears to be. My other mouthpieces will not fit down into the receiver as far as the Herco.

Had the same problem with a Besson Imperial Eb tuba. Dont cut the main tuning slide, you will regret it if or when you need to pull it long to play with a flat organ or piano. Better find one of the secondary bows, and ask your tech to cut a bit there, leaving the full tuning slide lenght intact. Worked like a charm.

Second on the don’t cut the slide. Maybe try some other mouthpieces, presumably bass bone shank? I have an Eb that just didn’t work with the usual smallish mouthpieces one expects to work on an Eb; the bigger the mouthpiece the happier it is.

Funny you say that! I have a Pan-Am 3 valve Eb that leaks just about everywhere, and has had some pretty bad "repair" done to the leadpipe and receiver, yet it plays in tune with my Conn Helleberg even being all taped up. I'd second playing around with mouthpieces!

The Pan Am Eb tubas I have seen most often, have all played flat like they were made to play low pitch. It's actually easier to cut the small branch with little taper and solder it back in place. That leaves the main tuning slide long in case you need some extra pull on a hot summer outdoor concert.

After playing for a while I started hearing a buzzing on certain notes. Doing an real in-depth inspection, I found the. Ow bow loose at the bell ferrule. Also someone had removed the bottom bow for what ever reason and did not get it seated back into the original position. I didn’t find that until I cleaned off some excess solder. At a guess, I’d say the horn tubing is about 3/16 to a 1/4 inch longer than it should be.

Next, either I tackle the bottom bow myself or make an hour drive to a repair shop.

Matt Walters wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:41 am The Pan Am Eb tubas I have seen most often, have all played flat like they were made to play low pitch. It's actually easier to cut the small branch with little taper and solder it back in place. That leaves the main tuning slide long in case you need some extra pull on a hot summer outdoor concert.

This is the proper solution.

After years of struggling off and on with different approaches to pitch and intonation on my 1924 Buescher Eb -- which WAS low pitch and which I cut -- I finally (about two weeks ago) replaced the original receiver with a contemporary standard one. I'm now using a Schilke 66 mouthpiece on it, it plays in tune pretty much everywhere without correction (needed a bit in slow passages only on one or two 2+3 combinations), and the timbre is a lot better. I know this violates the "these old Eb tubas need a small mouthpiece" orthodoxy, but that just never worked for me, and I can't tell you how many variations (tuba, bass trombone, euphonium, contrabass trombone) of small mouthpieces with that old smaller shank size I tried. It was never one of the best tubas on the planet, but now it's a very usable and dependable horn. I suspect there's a lot of variation amongst these beasts, both in terms of original pitch and in how they respond to attempts at modification.

I use a modern Dennis Wick 3 on my diminutive 1890s Conn Eb and it plays in tune.
I used to have one of these Conn student 1950s Ebs and it worked well with either a bass trombone mouthpiece or a Chinese knockoff of a Wick (used to find those on ebay but not sure if they are there anymore).