Wessex are considering making new version of our Mighty Midget BBb travel tuba with larger 12" bell to provide a broader tone above players head for concert/performance use - although that would negate its compactness for travelling, although the existing model would still be available for that purpose.
The new version would be about euphonium size.
I attach pictures of a couple of concept models and would be interested in feedback if there is any interest in such, and if so which version, upright bell or forward bell?
Your chance to steer new model of tuba!
Existing Mighty Midget
Bell Front Tornister
Large Upright bell tornister
Last edited by Wyvern on Tue Mar 01, 2016 10:27 am, edited 2 times in total.
I like the upright bell like what you are showing. I was really impressed by the BBb Mighty Midget at the Tuba/Euphonium Workshop last month at Ft. Myer, VA. That was the first time I had played one of them, and although they are "baritone sized", they are a very real tuba in range, just smaller. Nice horn.
We can adjust tuning by means of varying lengths of leadpipe or/and main tuning slide. The BBb Midget and CC Gnome use different parts, so by use of some shorter Gnome parts we can get in tune with higher bell without upsetting intonation.
I am not keen on removable bell, as bell collars are heavy and we do not want to add appreciably to weight, as that is rather defeating the point of the small tuba.
How much does it weigh now, and how much would it weigh with a bell collar?
The lightest tuba I've ever held was my old Cerveny 3/4 F tuba. I think it was just barely over 14 pounds, and for a tuba, that's extremely light. As this is designed for people who typically play something much larger, I think while it's good to be aware of weight, is it *really* a dealbreaker?
Not at all interested in any version of this instrument, but thought I'd chime in.
The Tournister would lose the essence of the Tournister- the ability to put it in a backpack. That concise small package is what that horn is all about. If I was designing a tuba and wanted either the upright or forward bell of these versions, I would make the tubes of the body much larger to take advantage of the increased size because of the bell. Think a Piggy (CC or BBb) reduced in size by 1/3rd by shrinking the diameter of the tubes but not the length. Would it sell and would it sound any good? Don't know.
I could never see myself owning more than one small tuba like this.
If there were kits to change it from one configuration to another via interchangeable bells/tuning slides/leadpipes, I *could* possibly see myself having one tuba and multiple kits.
Could you not try to engineer the bell collar down at the ferrule from the bottom bow? That might give a few options but not weigh so much as it'd be a smaller collar? (it would need an attachment from bell-to-top-bow obvs...
Dunno what you'd do about pitch variation. Leadpipe would screw up intonation I expect but you could look at main slides (maybe).
Peach wrote:Could you not try to engineer the bell collar down at the ferrule from the bottom bow? That might give a few options but not weigh so much as it'd be a smaller collar? (it would need an attachment from bell-to-top-bow obvs...
Kanstul offers an interchangeable bell comp euph that uses that exact setup.
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kmorgancraw wrote:Removable recording bell. And since its removable leave option for upright. I'd buy one today!
Yes, that would be a great option. It opens up a can of worms regarding packaging/case/shipping, but if you can overcome that, I'd say that's the winner right there.
kmorgancraw wrote:Removable recording bell. And since its removable leave option for upright. I'd buy one today!
Yes, that would be a great option. It opens up a can of worms regarding packaging/case/shipping, but if you can overcome that, I'd say that's the winner right there.
Yup. Both Bells And five ( 5 !! ) valves, please ! Then that will be the Winner !!
