A Mammoth Project (pun intended)

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SousaWarrior9
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 428
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2011 6:22 pm

A Mammoth Project (pun intended)

Post by SousaWarrior9 »

TL;DR: Working on a mammoth CC project and open to suggestions on bell, valve set, and cutting choices

long read if you want context:
I've been slowly gathering parts and tools over the past year or so in hopes of making a 6/4 CC that resembles a Marin Mammoth a closely as possible in terms of playing characteristics and tone. In addition to a series of mammoth bows, I also was fortunate enough to acquire a rare Martin mammoth CC, which I plan to use as a reference in assembling this new horn. Also as a reference, I've been studying all the past cut attempts that I'm aware of and see what I can learn from them. Here's what I've found so far:

Gnagey-cut "Big Bob's" CC: King valve section, short bell
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=65229

Gnagey-cut CC: King valves, Cerveny bell
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=86742

Gnagey-cut CC: King valves, original tall Martin bell
viewtopic.php?t=83827

Epely-cut "piggy" CC: Miraphone 1290 valves, PT6P bell
https://reverb.com/item/25997351-6-4-piggy-cc-tuba

Stofer-cut CC: Kanstul valves, tall Kanstul bell
viewtopic.php?t=50204

Agnew/Martin rotary CC: MW Bill Bell valves, short bell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpmSyLtYKIo

Martin "Jay McAllister" rotary CC: Cerveny(?) valves, short Martin bell
https://www.tubaforum.net/viewtopic.php?t=2857

For my attempt, I want to get as much length out of the bugle as possible with a shorter bell stack in order to minimize cuts to the bows as much as possible, resulting in a short, fat "piggly-like" build of a few of the above examples. That coupled with the exclusion of bits and a cut to the main slide get a couple inches closer, but some bow cuts will still be needed. I'm thinking a concept similar to the 4/4 Gnagey method of putting a short monster Eb (or new-style King) bell on the old-style King bugles, only in this case, putting something similar to the old-style Martin bells on the newer style recording bell bugle.

One big difference then the above projects that I want to make is that I want to get as close as possible tot he original Martin bore size (in the .710"-.720" range. All of the above here (with the exception of Jay's old horn) either err on the small side using .687"-.689" bore sets or err on the larger side with .734"-.750" bore sets. I realize of course that is because King and York style sets are much more plentiful and that virtually no one else made valve sets of that size, but if there are any that are close that anyone is aware of, I'm all ears.

Any other suggestions the masses may have in terms of parts choices, cutting methodologies, etc. are gladly welcome. I'm still very green to the franken-ing game so I'm eager to hear and learn from the more experienced among us.

Cheers, and a happy holiday season to y'all!
"Some men are macho men. Others are Martin men"

It's that word "handcraft"...
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tylerferris1213
3 valves
3 valves
Posts: 485
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2012 9:53 pm
Location: NW Ohio

Re: A Mammoth Project (pun intended)

Post by tylerferris1213 »

Definitely keep us updated on your project! It seems like you've done a lot of research.
Tyler Ferris
Wessex British F
York Monster Eb
Getzen CB-50 CC
Cerveny CBB-601 BBb
"Yamayork" Frankentuba Contrabass FF
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