My new (old) Eb

Alex F · Post by **Alex F** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 3:35 pm

I just received a small Eb tuba from Dan "Tuba Tinker" Schultz. It is labelled Sorkin - New York but is most likely a stencil of a Conn Pan-American Eb from the early 1930's. There is another seller on Ebay selling an identical looking horn which is branded Pan American.

This is a 3v tuba. The bore is 6.1x" and the bell is 16" It is quite light and "fits" me well. The valves are very decent but a tad worn. I saw the orignal post on ebay but did not give it a second look. Dan clearly did his magic on it. It's a great looking horn as can be seen here:

[Hey Dan, I can't post the last pic you sent with the tuba bell-down on your bench. Can you put it up?]

This will never replace a 981 or one of the other Eb behemoths, but seems to play very well for a horn of this size - once I get used to the 3v fingering and the lack of a fourth valve.

I want to thank Loyal Tubist for starting the original "this one is nice" post and Bob 1062 for alerting me to this horn (not that I wouldn't read everthing LT posts. . .). Buy my hats (all of them) are off to Dan for his attention to detail and workmanship.

Alex F.

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Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:49 pm

Alex...

Here is a picture of the Sorkin Eb:

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:23 pm

Try your false tones down to the lowest. My 1940 King three banger has good false tones allowing me to play a solid scale from low Eb down to pedal EB. The fingerings are not the same.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Sat Apr 08, 2006 9:57 pm

If the King plays like the Martin I borrowed recently, the fingerings are different. My false pedal below 123 low A natural was Ab open, then going down G 2, Gb 1, F 12, E nat 23, true pedal Eb open.

tubatooter1940 · Post by **tubatooter1940** » Sun Apr 09, 2006 2:39 pm

correcto mundo,iiipopes!

Alex F · Post by **Alex F** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 5:02 pm

ya never know Bob. It is getting bit crowded here.

I spent a lot of time playing this horn in the last few days. It is light, free-blowing, fun to hold, and a bit challenging to play. "Standard" fingerings do not always work here and I've had to be a bit creative. However, it has also forced me to spend a lot of time listening, which is always a good thing. It is capable of making a nice full sound, more than I would expect from a horn that is about 20-30% larger than a modern euphonium.

i've tried a B&S 18 (Bach copy?), Melton 24AW (Bach copy?), and a Yammie Bobo Solo Replica. Not sure which I like better, but that's all the tuba mps I got.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:51 am

Try a Wick 3: deep enough cup to be full toned, large enough throat to get a lot of air through the horn, and will probably help intonation overall.

Alex F · Post by **Alex F** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:10 am

Wick mps are essentially unavailable these days. Everyone carries them; no one actually has any.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:25 pm

Uh, please think again: Denis Wick now has his own website
http://www.deniswick.com
where you can get what you need. Make sure you spell Denis with ONE N. Also, he has recentlly resigned distributor agreements directly, so they are available again, after a surprisingly short break. Just email him at the website and he'll give you dealer info on this side of the pond.

I confess I got lucky: I got my Wick 1 for my BBb about a month or so before Besson shut down, from the last shipment sent to WWBW. I had tried a used Wick 2 first, but I wanted the larger 1 to go with it. I like the 1 better: Helleberg cup, Bachish rim, big broad well pitched tone. The 2 has a more Bachish cup as well as rim, more "core" and projection.

Alex F · Post by **Alex F** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:37 pm

I have a Wick on order from Dillon's and was told it would take from two to four weeks. It's been so long that I forgot which one I actually ordered. I'll give them another shot. I almost had a Wick 4AL euph mp off Ebay a few weeks back but got sniped at the last minute.

Alex F · Post by **Alex F** » Sun Feb 25, 2007 4:52 pm

I'm dreding this thread up to share a bit of info about the Sorkin-New York brand name. I accidently came accross this information while idly looking for something else.

I'm now thinking that Sorkin was Peter Sorkin Music Company of NYC. This was apparently a NY form of Chicago's Lyon & Healy, which mostly sold instruments under its name that were built by companies such as Conn, etc. The references I've found point to the company being around from at least 1938 (probably earlier) through the mid-1970s.

Most references to this company involve early electric guitars, amps, and organs (keyboards). It seems that they were major promoters of early electric guitars made by National Dobro, Premier, Silvertone, Hofner, and other brands. Later, PSMC formed a subsidiary to manufacture early synths under the name Multivox. There are also a couple of passing references to Sorkin cornets/clarinets. but there's not much there.

Anyway, I thought I would share this to add to body of knowledge about musical instrument/retail history FWIW. Maybe some of our older members from the NYC area have some memories of this outfit. I did check current NYC area listings and nothing comes up. Therefore, I must assume that the company went out of business ore was, to use a professional term, snarfed up by someone else.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Mon Feb 26, 2007 12:20 am

Alex F wrote:I have a Wick on order from Dillon's and was told it would take from two to four weeks. It's been so long that I forgot which one I actually ordered. I'll give them another shot. I almost had a Wick 4AL euph mp off Ebay a few weeks back but got sniped at the last minute.

That's exactly why I had to get the Chinese copy. I needed it during the time after Besson folded but before Denis Wick got his own website up and running.