What to do with a valveset...hmm.

[tubatom91]

What would you do with a Conn 22K valveset? I "acquired" one yesterday from a destroyed school horn, if anybody needs a fiberglass body + bell let me know. I just took the valve-set home to tinker around with. So I got to thinking, what in the heck am I going to do with this, I have enough horns to piss off my father so this is a long-term project. I am thinking about building a franken-horn someday with this. or converting a top-action body into a front-action tuba. Now that sounds like an awesome community band horn .
>>The sousaphone that I took this from had been through the ringer, it has been in my high school's band program since the mid 50's and amazingly still has nice newish valves. The braces gave way and the set folded over and creased the tubing to the point of crushing and tearing....eventually remedied with copious amounts of Duct Tape but it ended up fully detached from the horn with a little torque (not sarcasm, took very little effort to remove). I will attach pictures to show the grade of materials.



Today I removed the laquer that was left and did a bit of raw brass polishing, and I cut off the freyed/nasty end of that tubeing where it tore off.
Tell me what you think!

[emcallaway]

I have long been troubled by a similar problem (though my valveset is from an Olds sousaphone.) The "money" so to speak is in really good shape, while the body is practically unsalvageable. In my opinion we have four options that allow us to play with fire:

1. Scour various storage rooms and auction sites searching for a tuba that is in decent condition (crinkled bell aside), but is missing the valves. This is not a completely uncommon find that can be had relatively cheaply, but you may wind up with a horn that has a much larger/smaller bore than your donor sousaphone, which could lead to...interesting results.

2. Go crazy and save the the valves until you have a similar Conn horn and use the valveset as a donor for parts to create a fourth (or fifth) valve. Tuba Tinker has successfully done this with Pan American Eb. This is quite an involved project and could damage a perfectly good three valve horn, but it would make for a pretty sweet frankenhorn if you have the time and expertise.

3. Go really crazy and add a large bore fourth valve to the side of three upright valve euphonium. The advantage here is that three-valvers can be had on the cheap, and so your potential risk in the project is relatively low (physical injuries aside.) You would just have to be certain that you line up your bores properly (assuming that the chosen horn and valve have bores that match in a convenient location.)

4. Go really really crazy and build a cimbasso. Our good Tinker has also done this, but again he is more of an expert than you or I. This one would require lots of planning, but would definitely fit the definition of a looong term project.

The expert instrument techs and experienced frankenhorners can give much better advice than myself, and whatever you do, be very careful-- solder may have a lower melting point than some other metals, but it is still extremely hot!

[imperialbari]

Get one more valve section like this one, plus the carcass of a larger baritone, plus some straight tubing and make yourself a cimbasso in Eb.

If you put the valve sections after each other in the first branch after the leadpipe, you may use one of the original tuning slide set-ups at the bottom like with some European valve trombones. The upwards straight branch then will have a larger bore.

Whether you want having the left or the right handed valves on top, is up to you.

Cut the slides of the right hand section to 2, 1, and 3 semitones in Eb. Let the left hand section keep its 1st and 2nd slides as 2 and 1 semitones in BBb. Pull the 3rd slide a bit to constitute 5 semitones (a fourth) in Eb. That way you will have pretty exact fingerings down to G. From there you will have to fake notes by means of the right hand valves. A thumb activated main tuning slide trigger may give more exactness.

A tuning in F and CC will also be possible, as will a non-standard one in Eb and CC with the right hand 3rd valve as shift valve. I do not think that a tuning in F and BBb will be good, as there will be no really good fingering available for B natural.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

I say you should crush and melt it!

Maybe, but not everybody can do that just by sitting on it.

K

[Kevin Hendrick]

I say you should crush and melt it!

It'd be worth -- what would you think, Wade -- maybe $1,600 that way?

[tubatom91]

The original sounds like it could be repair without too much effort. Take it back to school and suggest it get sent to the shop.

I know, not what you wanted to hear.

If they'd actually use it, I would gladly give it back, but they wont. Sadly this is only one of around 15 similar sousas that are in very rough shape. Honestly I am basically at a war with them, mostly just me complaining alot. The last straw came when I came back to school and found a Nice Besson 3valve compensator with a crushed bell, sadly they had stacked empty marching bass drum cases on top of one another and then put the horn on top and this was the result.... . Similar things have happened to these sousaphones over the years and then they sit for 5-10years until they either get trashed or fixed. We actually had 3 of these in the shop for over a year just "sitting on a shelf" because the band directors forgot about them..............so in a sense you could say that I am "liberating" them .
BTW all these ideas sound fun. Right now I'm thinking I want to make a front action horn out of somthing, possibly a trashed 22J with a front bell, I can't stand playing top-action forward-belled tubas, but front action I can handle. I might be acquiring a beater 22j later today. I have yet to see the shape of it but I know it's rough.

[David Richoux]

What about a brass BBb Alphorn? Miraphone made/makes one in the 1990s (don't remember what pitch it is in.)

or a Seussaphone? a coil of brass or copper pipe and a funnel would attach pretty well.