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I bought my son a 1920 Conn BBb Tuba a little over a year ago. As he has gained in capability he tells me that it plays flat. Being musically challenged I searched out a player or two and found that it in fact does.
One gentlemen told me that nearly every Conn from that era does play flat.
Is there any action that can be done to improve the playing ability of the beast? It's very solid and quite a large horn and I'd like to give my son a horn that he can enjoy and continue to improve on.

There is currently an exact match for his Conn sale on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... eName=WDVW

Thanks for any assist.

In the early 1920's and earlier there was a "low pitch" standard that was around A=432. It's possible that his horn is tuned to that standard. Also, if the valve plating is very worn, leakage around the valves could cause it to play flat. A compresssion test by a competent repair person could check the valve condition.

If the valves are fine, and it really is the exact same model as shown, it would be relatively simple to have a good brass repair person cut the main tuning slide (in the leadpipe) to bring it into tune. On this horn there is plenty of tubing at that location to have this done.

I feel that we've got a good hunk of brass here. Just want to get it fully up to par.
With 85 years of playing I'm sure the valves could use replating. There isn't any "pop" with the slide and first valve. Shouldn't it do that by design? It also has a coupl of decent dents, but nothing is crushed anywhere.
Not sure what you mean about the leadpipe, but a reapir man should.
Will be looking based on your assistance. Do you have any recommendations in the D.C. area?

If there is no "pop" when you pull the slide, the compression is weak. That could cause it to play flat. I would consider having the valves done before cutting the horn. I would suggest contacting Dave Fedderly/Baltimore Brass in your area regarding repairs. A link to his website can be found in the "shops" section of this site.

Please do yourself (and your son) a favor and have your Conn looked over by a qualified repairman before you make the decision to 'cut' this horn. Once length is removed from the slides it gets expensive to put it back. Make sure the valves are in good shape and the horns doens't have any leaks. You can find a repairman in your area by inquiring here:

http://www.napbirt.org/

Wow, talk about fast response.
Thanks again. Will definately look into this.

Off topic of the original question, but I was wondering if he's got the right type of mouthpiece (or if that matters).

The school had him get a 24AW (not sure of the manufacturer) it fits the schools' Yamaha (4 upright valves) and does fit in his leadpipe. The cup is a bell shaped and is about 1 1/2" deep.

Brassdad wrote:The school had him get a 24AW

That is pretty much a standard 'starter' mouthpiece.