Are there any other musicians....

[Tubajug]

who do as much to modify, alter, hack apart, or otherwise "mess around" with their instruments as much as tuba players do?

With all the adding/removing of valves, bell swaps, leadpipe adjustments, etc. that people do (or at least discuss doing...) I'm curious to know if there are any other groups of instrumentalists that do as much to modify their horns? The only one I can think of would be electric guitars maybe? I know they've got a lot bells and whistles that they can add.

[Mark]

Clearly, you have never watched an oboe player mess with their reeds.

[Tubajug]

Clearly, you have never watched an oboe player mess with their reeds.

Haha! I have actually, but you don't really see them drilling extra holes in their horns.

[pgym]

Trombone players: bells (material, diameter, thickness, finish), handslides, tuning slides, leadpipes, braces, counterweights, valves, wrap, ....

[MartyNeilan]

Trombone players: bells (material, diameter, thickness, finish), handslides, tuning slides, leadpipes, braces, counterweights, valves, wrap, ....

Back in the 80's-early 90's many trombone and bass trombonists played instruments that looked like botched science experiments, due to the sudden popularity of the axial flow vlaves. When companies like Edwards and Shires came around, and Bach and others started offering things from the factory, this trend started to fade.

[TubaTinker]

Trumpet players would like to mess with their horns. But... they aren't smart enough!

Kidding aside.... look at the myriad of reversed slides, heavy caps, leadpipes, etc. that they think might be the 'Holy Grail'.

[KiltieTuba]

Trumpet players; there are less things to actually modify on ~4 feet of tubing, but the difference are possibly more profound.

And saxophone players.
Percussion too.
Oh and french horn.

[Charlie C Chowder]

If you go to the Internet Cello Society forums, you would find one bulletin board devoted just to the instrument and all of the equipment that you have a choice of to make your cello perfect. With four seperate strings, a variety of bridges, endpins and tailpeices, the time and money spent looking for the perfect combination can be large. And then you need to find the perfect bow or bows for a perticlar cello and the type of music you are playing. I cannot afford the money and need the time to practice.

Charlie

[bloke]

I've never seen anything aftermarket done to any tuba that addresses the worst problem: stand-alone intonation

[KiltieTuba]

I've never seen anything aftermarket done to any tuba that addresses the worst problem: stand-alone intonation

Not even heavyweight bottom caps or movable braces!?

[MartyNeilan]

I've never seen anything aftermarket done to any tuba that addresses the worst problem: stand-alone intonation

What about adding valves?

[DP]

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