First impressions of my new old Eb comp alto euph

[imperialbari]

As a collector of (mostly) playable brasses it is fun to open the box with something different. Monday arrived my circa 1896 Boosey Double Principle Eb Tenor horn (English term). Really an alto horn with two sets of loops for the 2nd and 3rd pistons, which are engaged or shunted off depending on whether the 1st valve is used with one or both of these valves.

The airpath is even less obvious than with three valve Blaikley compensators. I haven’t traced the airpath yet, just played the instrument, which may be seen here:

http://tinyurl.com/EbAltoEuph

Normally I play my Courtois Eb alto Saxhorn and my Martin mellophone through my French horn mouthpiece stuck into an adapter. But even my thickest adapter barely was thick enough. This old Boosey doesn’t project as smack-in-your-face as the Courtois does, but it is way better in tune in the low register, where Sousa so often uses his 4th Alto.

The 1st slides of the Boosey and of the Courtois are exchangeable, so the darker Boosey sound may be a result of the wider leadpipe.

The mouthpiece following the Boosey looked very new, so I contacted the very friendly seller to ask about its origins. He had bought a lot of these Chinese made mouthpieces for the older Eb altos he sells among other older brasses. Normally he has to turn down the stem, but not in this case.

I wondered what the Chinese had intended this 19mm wide and rather deep mouthpiece for. It dawned that it might be for oval Eb horns. I stuck it in the receiver of my Weltklang oval Eb alto, normally played with a DW10CS trombone mouthpiece. This Chinese mouthpiece fitted the Weltklang receiver well, so maybe I will play these two altos through this mouthpiece. Being at it I also tested it on my Reynolds Bb soprano trombone, conglomerated by HarvsHappyHorns of a dual bore tenor slide and tuning bow plus a cornet bell. Normally also played through the DW10CS, but the Chinese piece fits better.

So far I like this oldie and I certainly will try to understand both of its principles even if I don’t really like schizoid instruments.

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

[iiipopes]

It does look like a cross between the conventional Blaikley comp system and the Besson (premerger) enharmonic system. Please post your observations when you take delivery of the horn as to its path. Thanks.

[Donn]

I wondered what the Chinese had intended this 19mm wide and rather deep mouthpiece for.

A copy of the Denis Wick 2 for tenor horn? which is supposed to be 19mm cup diameter, and of course reasonably deep. It's a very popular choice.

[imperialbari]

I wondered what the Chinese had intended this 19mm wide and rather deep mouthpiece for.

A copy of the Denis Wick 2 for tenor horn? which is supposed to be 19mm cup diameter, and of course reasonably deep. It's a very popular choice.

The DW2 is what I had my students play, while I was out of the alto horn/mellophone loop myself for almost 35 years. The DW2 is not quite as deeply funnel shaped as its two slightly narrower siblings, yet it is not nearly as bowl shaped as the largest Vincent Bach alto/mello model.

My Chinese made mpc is more after Bach,cupwise, and has the tenor trombone stem like the German oval altos.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

Front small.jpg

Back small.jpg

Valve section small.jpg

What mainly puzzled me about the routing, was the length of the 1st slide tubing. Far too long. Some of the main bugle had to be shunted off, when the 1st piston was depressed.

And so it is. TubeNet only allows up to 3 attachments per post, so the 5 photos are divided overvtwo posts.

When the 1st pistn is not engaged the air passes THROUGH the piston and continues via the the upper of the two parallel streaks of tubing on the rear of the pistons into the 3rd piston from where it passes back through all 3 pistons and continues via the lower of the rear parallel tubings towards the bell.

When the 2nd and/or 3rd pistons are engaged, but not the 1st, then the respective lower slide loops are involved. Both loops are on the front.

When the 1st piston is pressed, the air goes through the 1st loop to the 3rd piston, from where it is lead back through all 3 pistons. I leaves the 1st piston via the same lower tubing as before on its way to the bell.

When the 3rd piston is pressed together with the 1st, the air goes through the longer (upper) 3rd slide before returning to the 1st piston.

When the 2nd piston is pressed together with the 1st piston the air goes through the 2nd loop, which is on the rear, where it also doubles as a thumbrest.

My evaluation so far is: too complicated a system. The same pitch advantages could more easily have been gained from a main tuning slide trigger. The benefit over the Blaikley system is the avoidance of the small comp loops, which hardly woul be applicable on an Eb alto instrument. The weight is no problem with this size of instrument, but have been a burden on tubas.

At less than $200, shipping included, this instrument still is worthwhile in a collection having compensating valve systems as one of its themes.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

Valve section back view small.jpg

Bell engraving small.jpg

K