For several years, Kanstul has made two 3/4 size BBb and CC tubas, with front pistons. They are known as the model 902, and they look like this:
http://kanstul.com/pages/instruments/cu ... 2-4cm.html
They remind me of the little Yamaha 621 models. I don't know if they're based on those, but the size is close.
The BBb did little for me, but I'm not much of a BBb player anyway. I always liked the CC though. But, it was ergonomically weird, and because of the angle of the valve block and the fourth valve being offset, I wasn't comfortable.
That's all fixed in this new model. It's comfortable to hold, and the valve block fits human hands, and...it has a new 5th rotary valve. The rotor is right under the palm like on the big Yamaha Monica tuba, and maybe the 6/4 York, I'm not sure. And, the rotor is a new large bore version of the CR trombone valve, whose airways are made of tubes soldered inside a CNC rotor shell. It's located after the piston valve block, and is larger diameter than the pistons. I don't know the bore. The wrap of the main bugle looks change a bit, and it's really an open swooping design, which reminds me of the beautiful tube routing on the Alexander tubas. To me, this CC looks like a cool piston F, sort of open near the top bow. It's a bit weighty for a smaller horn, but nothing like a Willson. Also, the leadpipe and valve cluster unbolt from the large bows, so it should be easy to repair.
Even better, this tuba is made for travel, so the bell flare unscrews, about where the logo is stamped on the bell in the above pic. But it's not threaded like a French horn flare, as the large threaded ring was easily damaged. Instead, you push in the flare, twist it to the right about 1/2", and it locks in via several pins in a slot. And you can further lock it in with a small screw.
Each part of the tuba comes with its own hard case. So you can get on a plane and check the body in a medium small case with reckless abandon, and carry the bell case on with you.
How about no more wrinkled tuba bells? Wouldn't be cool if you could play a smaller tuba like this on an audition, and easily travel there by air with your axe? Sadly, I think most folks like their jumbo tubas for the classical audition route, but for a jazz gig or a solo gig or anytime you use a stand-up horn, or for pit orch, or whatever, this would make a cool travel tuba. And I think for medium or small sized people who like to play tuba, this could be winner too. I don't hear much about this idea, but I think tuba size should correspond with body size, as there is some lugging around and ergonomic issues for all of us.
One of these new CC tubas should be on display at the NAMM show in January. Lee Stoffer will also have one, maybe this one I played. They're available anytime and are built to order, probably in 6 weeks. I don't know if a price has been set. On behalf of the TubeNet, I'll tell them that if they can do it for about $85, they'll really have something.
But I don't believe that suggestion will be well received. The last part of the project was figuring the ergonomics of the fifth valve linkage, and the strap and lyre attachments, but I think that's all done by now.And there are other tubas coming from Kanstul. With the US dollar value in the gutter and the Euro and Pound Sterling high, now can be a time to cater to the European market. So Zig Kanstul was talking about making this Eb tuba that could be assembled in several keys. And I saw this old junky thing sitting in the corner, which was the model, and thought, "No way, who wants that?"
So I took a closer look. The model for this is an old J.W. York 4/4 Eb tuba, 3+1 non-compensating. It's a big tuba, but it's wrapped really tightly, so it looks like a 3/4 tuba, but with this big bottom bow and big throat bell. And here's the catch. Apparently this old York model could be made in CC or BBb with a different bottom bow, and with several different parts near the valve cluster. It's not a user-initiated change, but rather a different way that the builder can put it together. The bottom bow is one of the most expensive parts. But the smaller bows in the middle of the tuba are much cheaper to make, so it's not a huge cost to tool up for the second or third key, once you have the first one working right. I asked him if he'd make the CC version of this with the front piston set of the new CC, above, but he said, "No, nobody in the UK would buy it." So I see where he's going with this.
And that's the gossip from the left coast.
Steve Ferguson
