Besson mouthpipe

[MikeW]

Hi
I have a Boosey&Hawkes Imperial EEb tuba, bought new in 1982, with a serial number that dates to 1981 or 1982; It has the new-style bell, bows and branches, so if it had an American-standard receiver and nylon valve guides it would be identical to a first-run Besson 982 Sovereign.

I have read that installing the mouthpipe from a Besson 981 will upgrade this instrument to be a "virtual 981", giving me about a 25% increase in output in the lower range, which I need right now because I have been trapped as the lone tuba in a community band - I tried quitting, but the principal flute (-ess) reversed my decision.

I have read that Besson parts are/were not that easy to obtain, but may have improved recently - does anyone know the current situation here ?

The other item that caught my attention was a reference in a thread somewhere to "the large Allied universal mouthpipe" :-

• Is this just a catch for beginners (like glass nails, bulling rings, and the collapsible cardboard workbench) or do a range of ready made mouthpipes actually exist ?
• Would one of them be relevant to my needs ?
• Would there be a smaller one to fit a Couesnon 3/4 EEb ?

Many thanks for any info you can share

[MikeW]

Thanks for the info, Jenny.

I guess there's no "royal road" to the low range - I'll just have to do the work, same as everyone else. Oh well, I heard a note or two down there last night, among all the ugly rasping noises - yeah I know, practise, practise...

About the "Allied mouthpipe", if anyone else out there doesn't already know this stuff, I did some googling:

The Allied catalog is a resource available ONLY to qualified professional repairmen (strictly NO retail)

The "Allied universal mouthpipe" is a "one size fits nothing well" spare part that your repairman can use as a last resort if your instrument gets trashed - just hope you never need it.

[IOS]

Windcraft carries replacement mouthpipes for the Besson 981: http://www.windcraft.co.uk/parts.php?fa ... ht=BBH8242" target="_blank

It runs about 80 pounds sterling.

[MikeW]

Thanks for the tip off..

It seems I've been looking at their retail site, and the price there is 114 pounds.
I guess I'll have to go get an estimate from my repair shop: mouthpipe, felts, valve-guides, vent the second piston, and even then I'll still have to settle on a new mouthpiece - If I hadn't gone exploring in TubeNet's archives I'd never have got the itch to do any of this stuff.

Thank you TubeNet (I think - or is this stuff addictive ?)

[imperialbari]

Why vent the 2nd piston?

Klaus

[J.c. Sherman]

The Fletch mouthpipe isn't something which will increase your output or improve anything... it's a slight variant with mixed results, but if you're having power problems, this won't touch that.

Allied does make an Imperal style leadpipe, and it works well. The universal leadpipe would be a bad idea for this animal!

J.c.S. (long-time Imperial player and fan)

[MikeW]

Why vent the 2nd piston?

Klaus

My second (piston) valve has an annoying habit of occasionally hesitating on its way up. The problem only shows up when I am playing, I can't reproduce it by working the valves, pressing off-center, applying sideways pressure etc. Cleaning and oiling doesn't seem to have any effect, so I sometimes wonder if the valve is somehow getting air-locked.

The venting idea is more like a note to myself to discuss this with the repair shop - I'm not yet convinced that a vent-hole in the piston would allow enough air flow to make a difference at playing speed without the added pressure of a slide pull (which I don't use, because this instrument has compensating valves).

On the other hand, the piston has a large vent hole at the bottom, and a smaller one at the top, so it may, just possibly, be worth enlarging the top vent hole, or more likely drilling a second hole - something to think about for a year or two, anyway.

The Fletch mouthpipe isn't something which will increase your output or improve anything... it's a slight variant with mixed results, but if you're having power problems, this won't touch that.

More power for less effort would be nice, but it's mostly about sound quality. My sound is reasonably round and smooth at quieter dynamics, and I can play loud enough to keep the conductor happy, but I'm looking for the "velvet cloud" sound, and what I'm achieving is more like "crack of doom". I've seen one or two postings about good results with the Fletch mouthpipe - but of course I'm now seeing some less enthusiastic views.