TubeNet

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikkan-3-4-size ... 4ac63117ad" target="_blank

This company was absorbed into Yamaha in 1970 or so, according to the listing. Maybe that's why we don't see any older Yamahas?

These days... folks complain about all of the copies coming out of countries that have cheap labor. No one seems to care about the fact that tubas such as this were cheaply made knock-offs of British tubas (Besson).

Cool horn. The tapers remind me of the YBB-201 which was a direct copy of the Besson tapers.

There is one on Horn-U-Copia with tubing bends that look precisely like a YBB-102 (note especially the distinctive leadpipe and 3rd valve loop):

[quote="TubaTinker"]These days... folks complain about all of the copies coming out of countries that have cheap labor. No one seems to care about the fact that tubas such as this were cheaply made knock-offs of British tubas (Besson).

Note in the text it was "absolved" into Yamaha. Perhaps they are not guilty any more...

The leadpipe with the tuning slide and the first two valve loops on the rear point back to the way French Eb tubas were wrapped around 1880. Before this one Nikkan had one copying the older style with all 3 loops on the rear and the 3rd loop wrapped to form a hand rest.

That one even copied a feature which reveals why the French and British made these tall tubas: They found it easier to make straight conical branches than to make bows, so they also had ferrules at both ends of the branch connecting the bottom and top bows.

The dimensions given are similar to my 3/4-size Besson 787. So it's a small tuba. The way the lower bows cross over each other is different, though- it follows the pattern of larger Bessons like this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BESSON-4-4-BBb- ... 5aedb74dc7" target="_blank" target="_blank

Also the main slide placement is different- on mine it comes after the valves and is accessible only from the rear.

I'll post some side-by-side pics when it gets to Baltimore.

I'm told that when Japan was industrializing, in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, they used Great Britain as their example for a lot of things. One of many examples for those not familiar- they build their cars for the home market with right-hand drive, and drive on the left side of the road just like in the U.K. Another is the way they structured their military services, which would have had bands just like British ones that needed instruments. Naturally, these would have been patterned the same way.

One thing that did not follow the British pattern is their residential electric service - it's 100-110 volts, similar to the U.S. But in the Tokyo area it's 50 hertz, while the Osaka region is 60 hertz. I'm not sure what it is on Kyushu or Hokkaido islands. This goes back to when the respective cities bought their first generators- Tokyo got theirs from (I believe) Siemens, in Germany, while Osaka got theirs from either GE or Westinghouse here in the States. This is why much electrical/electronic equipment made in Japan can run on either frequency.

Well, though it was advertised as Bb, it turned out to be in Eb. The seller is a music store, Meridian Winds of Okenos, Michigan (near Lansing) so this came as a surprise- one doesn't expect this sort of mistake from a musical instrument dealer. But when I got in touch, they instantly issued a refund, and the horn is on its way back.

They did the right thing. I would deal with them again.

But I did get some side-by-sides with my mini-Besson BBb, here they are as promised:
This may have been a Besson knock-off, but it played surprisingly well for such a small tuba. It obviously doesn't have the firepower of a larger horn, but it has a nice tone- I was using a King SBTU mouthpiece with it, which looks like a Bach 7 cup and throat with a Helleberg-type rim. And it's in very good physical condition. If you're looking for a small Eb horn with a cool back-story, this one might work for you.

At this point in my life I'm not thrilled with the idea of learning all new fingerings, that's why I didn't keep it.

The horn has been re-listed here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0954628500" target="_blank" target="_blank

Smallest I've ever seen. I hope one of our Eb players gets it.

Someone bid on it this time:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0969264115" target="_blank

Just realized why this looks so familiar -- the dimensions and overall layout are very similar to this currently-available-new instrument:

http://www.wessex-tubas.com/junior-eb/