To stand or not to stand

[anor09]

I was just recently told I've been holding my horn wrong: too much of the weight is held by my right hand. It was suggested that I purchase a tuba-stand, but I don't think I'd have the patience to lug one around every time I need to play.

So, I came up with an idea to use a thin square of a rubber-like substance on the bow of my horn to help it stay in my lap, so my question is whether anything like that now exists, and where one could find it.

[tubatom91]

I use a little piece of non-slip stuff every once in awhile, I found it at Bed Bath and Beyond. They market it as drawer linings to set things on so they wont slide around. I know Lowe's sells stuff that is similar/identical. Comes in a big roll that is fairly inexpensive.

[The Jackson]

You want to tell us what you were really looking for at Bed Bath & Beyond, Tom?

You could try the liner method. Play for your teacher (or whoever) with it and see if that's better. If not, a tuba stand can be easily made for less than buying a new one. In a thread made a month or two ago, I detailed and posted pictures of the tuba stand that I made out of a drum throne and a piece of vinyl. It ran about $45 and works extremely well.

Good luck!

[tubatom91]

You want to tell us what you were really looking for at Bed Bath & Beyond, Tom?

A mother's day present, I happened to find it pokeing around the store.

[Rick F]

Rubber-like drawer-liner material...preferably black works well. Here are a couple of images:



Our local grocery store carry this.

[Dan Schultz]

You can pick up shelf liner at most every grocery store, Dollar Store, or hardware store... including the 'monster' places like Wal-Mart. I used to carry a 12" square of it in my gig bag. But... NOT any more! I simply got tired of fighting the horn and raising/lowering leadpipes and got a play stand (tuba rest). Aside from clearing up the obvious handling problems, my horns also seem much more resonant since they now sit on a stand instead of having my body wrapped around them. Lugging a stand around is a small price to pay. When I stand, I use a harness or my helicon.

[Rick Denney]

...I don't think I'd have the patience to lug one around every time I need to play.

It doesn't take patience. It takes arm muscles.

What it also does is take the weight of the instrument off your legs. You do not know how much tension you might be imposing on your body just to keep the instrument in your lap.

I put my Baltimore Brass stand in a DEG pouch, and slip down my bell. It's no real trouble to carry it around, except that it makes the gig bag heavier.

Rick "who'd rather have the muscle tension when schlepping than when playing" Denney

[kegmcnabb]

I put my Baltimore Brass stand in a DEG pouch, and slip down my bell. It's no real trouble to carry it around, except that it makes the gig bag heavier.

Rick,
How do you keep it from damaging your bell? Does it fit that securely?

[anor09]

Probably should have been a but more specific...But I get the feeling from these answers that there's nothing like this made for tuba yet?

[Rick Denney]

I put my Baltimore Brass stand in a DEG pouch, and slip down my bell. It's no real trouble to carry it around, except that it makes the gig bag heavier.

Rick,
How do you keep it from damaging your bell? Does it fit that securely?

The padded case in which it resides has at least a half inch of closed-cell foam on all sides. This if for carrying in a gig bag, and for that I am very gentle so even if it slides around a bit it won't do any damage.

Rick "whose Holton has a fairly ripply bell, but who hasn't seen any additional ripples appearing" Denney

[Neil Bliss]

Try one of these:

http://www.handstands.com/retail/ipod-a ... -padxl.php

They're only $3.99 and "two for one" right now as well ($1.99 each!).

I tried using one of these for a while on my very slippery St. Pete. The pad gripped my leg well, but was easily damaged and didn't stay put on the horn when I had to put the horn down.

My latest experiment in "bottom bow grip" is some gaffer's tape. Seems to be working pretty well so far, but time will tell...

[Art Hovey]

Here's another solution:
http://www.galvanizedjazz.com/tuba/tuba-support.html

[iiipopes]

For the Besson, the lead pipe has been set so that the horn rests on the corner of a chair turned diagonally, so when not playing I can rest my right elbow on the back of the chair.

For the 186, I use a folded up black hand towel I got at WallyWorld.

For the souzy, well, c'mon -- it's a souzy!

[CWessel188]

Rex Martin uses a black, rather thick rubber mat he told me he bought at a harware store.

I use shelf liner I bought for $1 for 4 feet at Walgreens.

I've seen a professional tuba player that had two sticky pads, like you can buy and office supply stores or minimarts stuck to his tuba.

As far as buying sticky pads for tubas, none yet exsist, but the stands do.



I'm very interested in learning where to get bags to hold things inside your bell.

[Rick Denney]

I'm very interested in learning where to get bags to hold things inside your bell.

DEG makes a stand (not recommended by me) and offers a padded bag for it (recommended by me). That bag will not hold a K&M stand, but it will hold a Baltimore Brass stand just fine. It's adequately padded to allow me to keep the stand down in my bell while in the gig bag. It should be noted that my tuba is old and shows its history, despite having been freshened up last year by Joe. The bell, in particular, is straight but not pristine, so if my practice cause a slight bump here or there, it would probably go unnoticed. But in looking at how the bag is constructed and padded, I don't think a problem is likely.

Rick "thinking the bag will work even better with the BBC stands from the last year or so that have the new tops" Denney

[eupher61]

I just got a BBC stand in the mail (yes, I ordered and paid for it). It's terrific.

I've realized lately that I'm just not able to get the horn into a good playing position holding it on my lap or setting it on a chair. My thighs are too muscular, and *ahem* so is my abdomen *ahem*, so it just doesn't work any more. But, this stand is terrific. Great service from BBC, too...ordered it late Friday afternoon, arrived Wednesday.

One question about stands---What stand did Mr Jacobs use? The first time I realized he used a stand was a photo in a TUBAJournal in the early 80s. Was DEG making them at that time??

[scottw]

It was suggested that I purchase a tuba-stand, but I don't think I'd have the patience to lug one around every time I need to play. .

What do you do with your music stand when you go to a rehearsal or concert? [You do carry one for all those places that don't provide them?] Well, just put the music stand and the tuba stand into a carry bag and your problem is solved. Please heed Rick's suggestion about the Baltimore Brass stand--they are far and away the best option out there.

[Dan Schultz]

in my Manhasset Voyager stand bag, I keep the following:

- Voyager music stand
- clip-on bottom shelf
- small athletic bag containing several mouthpieces, small screwdriver, several bottles of oils, clothespins, tuner, metronome, and cleaning cloth.
- tuba rest stand
- Concertlight II stand light
- music folder
- sometimes a sequined Dixieland vest!

[tubatooter1940]

I have two tuba playing stands. A Tubatamer for windy places and a flimsy bendy stand for inside.
We all bought comfortable drum thrones.
I carry a leather bag with mikes and chords for vocal and tuba and two tripod boom mike stands.
Most places I carry a 300 watt EON self powered speaker just for the tuba. In bigger rooms I get two EONs and the rest of the band gets two.
toots
http://www.myspace.com/johnrenomusic" target="_blank

[bearphonium]

I went the plywood cut to extend the chair route, and it is working pretty well.