altering main tuning slide

[contravic]

About 4 months ago I purchased a Besson BE995 CC tuba. before I bought it did lots of reserch and people on tubeNet said that the tunning slide was not long enough and one individual acually had someone lengthen his tunning slide. I am acually having this same problem with my horn. I can pull out slides for all the other notes but for my open notes I have to lip adjust too much. My questing is: Does anyone know how much of a risk I run in trying to make my tuning slide longer? and Does anyone know a person in the Houston area who would be able to conduct a procedure like this one succesfully? thank you for any comments.
-vic

[XtremeEuph]

1 question thats probably on many peoples minds..........Why did you purchase the horn if the intonation is that bad?

[ASTuba]

1 question thats probably on many peoples minds..........Why did you purchase the horn if the intonation is that bad?

I own one of these. The intonation isn't bad, on an overall scale. However, these horns tend to play sharp from the factory. The tuning slide isn't long enough. Period.

I had mine modified, it was pretty easy and straight forward, shouldn't be hard for someone to do.

[XtremeEuph]

I see where youre coming from, Im just one to even bother going through getting it done ................



Mr. Lazy

[sc_curtis]

Not sure if he'd be interested, but the only fellow I let touch my horns nowadays is Curt Wood, up in the Spring area. He does some really great work.

If you need a number, send me a PM.

There is also another guy who works out in the Katy H&H, name of Bill Engelhorn (sp?). He does fine work too, but recently with the financial problems of Brook Mays/H&H, I dunno if I would want to leave my horn in their possesion.

[imperialbari]

I am with Andy onthis point. Brasses in tune with themselves may have their pitch level changed.

The instrument behind my screenname had to have its 1st, 3rd, and main slides cut.

My 981 Eb is on the sharp side, but manageable even within the fairly short main slide pull.

Before I went from the DW1L to the PT-50 on the 981, I wanted Besson sending me a main tuning slide with longer branches. A request which is extremely easy to fulfil, if you have accesses to the right stock tubing, which one would suppose, that the factory should have.

I did not apply for this situation being a matter of guarantee, as I explicitly told, that I would pay for the elongated slide. Besson sent me an exact replica of the original main tuning slide. And it was followed by a copy of an internal ordering form, which exactly reflected my original order. At least in 1999 Besson had some illiterates employed within their logistic system.

As well known I am not into CC tubas because my ears do not get along with them. I am engrained in Bb and Eb, but I also can play smaller instruments in G, F, A, and C, only not CC. Hence I haven’t pursued the Besson CC.

Normally changing the male branches of a main tuning slide will be a small job for any competent repairman. However Besson uses a type of tubing on their male slide branches, which has a much thicker walling, than I have seen on any other brand of tubas. At least this goes for the 983’s and 981’s passing my eyes.

If the same goes for your CC, you may find a competent repairman able to trace the right tubing. I have quite a number of fine British instruments. But nobody will make me trust the logistics of Besson. And the person being most sad about that statement of mine is:

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre
(I have one of my “blindâ€

[windshieldbug]

Schlep; If that was an old horn, it was probably high pitch (A = c.452). Besson should, by now, know better...

[windshieldbug]

According to what I was able to find out by the serial number, it should have been built in the 70's. However! On the bell it said it was made in England. So with this in mind, it may very well have been a high pitch horn.

High pitch was done by the 20's. Made in the 70's, however, it may have been a DP (Disco Pitch) horn! Did it come with a mirrored ball?

[imperialbari]

Somebody needs to have his windshield debugged.

The Brits went on with high pitch brasses until just before 1970. These HP instrument were discontinued, when Besson/B&H refused to carry a double catalogue of HP and LP versions.

The instrument behind my screen name was made in 1967, so it has the letters LP as part of its serial number.

To my best knowledge the ballbusting ball was discontinued with the introduction of the Sovereign line of basses around 1982.

We all know Schleppy and his disgusting (on purpose I guess and only surpassed in disgustingtivity by the guy from the town on the Nile) avatars.

Please, please Schleppy: Don’t put your mirrored balls in your avatar!

Truckers have a special relationship with mirrors. Or at least they should have such a relationship. One of the most common reasons of traffic fatalities in my country is a lorry turning right and killing a bicyclist.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre,
who only has owned a car for 1/6 of his life, and who has been a bicyclist for 50++ years. I cannot walk my dog, so I “bikeâ€

[imperialbari]

On a more serious note:

One of my brass gurus, Arne Christensen, listed a few reasons for players being sharp:

1: not practising at all

2: having a very relaxed embouchure

3: practising like a madman

My Imperial Brit baritone and my Sovereign large bore tenor trombone (no longer owned by me) must have been quite flatly pitched, as they are the only ones, which I had cut. The latter had troubles making 440 in the cold early mass churches on the Faroes and in my own country.

Elsewise I am considered being a "sharp" player. Formerly for reasons #2 and #3. Currently for reasons #1 and #2.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

[windshieldbug]

Yes Klaus, I was not being worldly enough by announcing that in the USA, high pitch had been already done in.

As a matter of fact, my own "Mira(ph)one" (and therefor supposedly "Americanized") 184 4U CC was made to European orchestral pitch, and never converted, either. Although I understand that Mira(f)one offered both.

What do you want from a bug that has glass for brains?

As far as the '70s references, what do you want from a BBS that has posts to "bump!", "bump!", "bump!"

[windshieldbug]

Boy, can't you rednecks get anything right? The correct usage is, "I'd rather be sharp than out of tune... "

[windshieldbug]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......

[Kevin Hendrick]

I'd rather be sharp than flat ...

Naturally!

[Kevin Hendrick]

As far as the '70s references, what do you want from a BBS that has posts to "bump!", "bump!", "bump!"

An occasional "grind" to lighten things up, maybe?

[imperialbari]

This becomes kind of funny, as it unwittingly relates to my little provincial coastal town.

I think that the photo quote from the Madonna video is close to 20 years old. Some 10 years ago we had the traffic in downtown Korsør (I live in the south-eastern outskirts) changed.

That gave space for a new Havnegrill (Harbour grill bar). Basically it is two adjacent octagons with copper cones as roofs. The street wit beat me to it and came with this name for that bar: Madonnas bryster (translation hardly required).

My home is overloaded with brasses and recorders and then the strings and keyboards. My dog knows the rules, but when I last month was visited by a couple of younger generations, I very much could envision, what 3 minor kids and a dog could do when playing ever so friendly with each others.

So I said:“We will meet downtownâ€

[Chuck(G)]

[windshieldbug]

Chuck,

WTF is that?

"All your bases are belong to us"

Almost as universal as Chuck Norris!

[Rick Denney]

As a matter of fact, my own "Mira(ph)one" (and therefor supposedly "Americanized") 184 4U CC was made to European orchestral pitch, and never converted, either. Although I understand that Mira(f)one offered both.

Did you get this backwards, Michael?

I thought "Miraphone" was the official spelling, and "Mirafone" the Sun-Valley spelling used to try to enhance the Yurrupeanishness of the brand to faddish Americans. In the 60's, of course, we thought American tubas were junk and had to have European instruments.

Rick "who thinks he knows why a 'Miraphone' was built to a European pitch tradition" Denney

[iiipopes]

The 995 was the last Besson tuba. It was supposedly designed by Nirschel. Somewhere between the design and the execution something happened, I just don't know what. I do know, from reading others who experienced it first hand, that when the Sovereign bell was enlarged from 17 to 19 inches, that two inches of tuning slide had to be cut away as the whole horn became flat from the larger throat on the bell. Now, I don't know how much is in common between the Sov 19 bell BBb tubas and the 995 CC, but it sounds like to me that Nirschel only had input on the valve block, and that after the tooling was changed so the Sovs would play in tune that something was not changed back on the design or execution of the 995. Just my speculation. Moreover, if stretched out straight, a CC tuba is over 16 feet long from receiver to Bell rim. I don't think 2 inches of additional tubing in the main will significantly detract from already less than perfect intonation.