What is this old Conn Eb?

[bort]

I have no clue, but Bob Kolada seemed to be fond of those small old Conn/King Eb's, maybe you could ask him if he doesn't chime in here?

PS -- how's my old Marzan treating you?

[TheHatTuba]

factory front action

[Michael Bush]

Looks to me like an early version of the model that eventually came to bear the first use of the model number 12J.

This one has the main tuning slide with those extra bends in a section of pipe that didn't have a slide on the 12J, and a straight in lead pipe, where the 12J had the tuning slide in the lead pipe. How much of these differences were original how much was done aftermarket?

Here it is on the Conn Loyalist:

http://cderksen.home.xs4all.nl/Conn12J192ximage.html

[1895King]

I have one of these, but mine does no have the "W" shaped tuning slide. It is a nice light horn and it plays very well with the best low end of any of my 8 Eb's. I can usually get a low Bb and sometimes an Ab with my old York mouthpiece.

[Michael Bush]

I have one of these, but mine does no have the "W" shaped tuning slide. It is a nice light horn and it plays very well with the best low end of any of my 8 Eb's. I can usually get a low Bb and sometimes an Ab with my old York mouthpiece.

Does yours have the lead pipe going straight in like this one, or is the tuning slide in the lead pipe?

[EdFirth]

I also have one of these small Conns. Mine is a four valve front action and the top bow comes all the way to the top of the bell. It also has a great low register. But as to the Marzan, Bob tucci's York lives here in town. The PT 606 is, I believe a rough copy of it. The Marzan piston horns(I had the Bb sibling of yours) in this model are basicly York Master Models with some tweaking(main slide on top etc.). I know some of the Bb's have been cut to C over here but they Did offer them in C from the factory. And, like Jake's York, they are probably cut down Bb parts. The one I had was a terrific sounding horn. All the best, Ed

[TheHatTuba]

Are the buttons original?

[windshieldbug]

At the risk of misdirecting my OP....the big B+M made Marzan CC is awesome. I've owned a lot of tubas but this one is finally the holy grail for me. It's got some intonation quirks that I've solved nicely with a few alternate fingerings and 1st valve slide pulls. The sound quality is very uniform and beautiful in all registers.....what a free-blowing powerhouse in the low range.

Instead of the 1st slide, use the main. That's why it's pointed up! Then you only have one to adjust for any valve/combination.

Takes a while to get used to playing by ear instead of length, but it's worth it!

OP: Factory original, except for the mouthpipe. High Pitch horn, made Low Pitch with the Conn factory "W" slide.
valve slides look like HP, so there may be lines on each one for proper length to pull out for LP.

[Mutuba04]

I have a similar model. The bell is shorter, reaching just above the top bow, but it has the same unique main tuning slide. It plays consistently about a quarter step flat. Any recommendations to overcome the low pitch tuning? Or is cutting the only option?

[Alex C]

PS -- how's my old Marzan treating you?

At the risk of misdirecting my OP....the big B+M made Marzan CC is awesome. I've owned a lot of tubas but this one is finally the holy grail for me. It's got some intonation quirks that I've solved nicely with a few alternate fingerings and 1st valve slide pulls. The sound quality is very uniform and beautiful in all registers.....what a free-blowing powerhouse in the low range.

I've done some digging and I'm fairly sure this horn was a prototype built during one of Fred Marzan's and Bill Bell's trips to Europe. It was likely patterned directly from Bob Tucci's York CC. I think his was one of 13 Yorks commissioned by Arnold Jacobs for his students. It's also likely those York CC horns were built from cut down BBb parts which might explain some of the intonation characteristics.

[/img]

What's the source of saying Arnold Jacobs commissioned 13 Yorks for his students.

By the 1950's, when Jake was just beginning to teach, York was barely hanging on as a manufacturer and outsourced the tuba manufacturing to B&M. Jacobs was not recognized as the skilled teacher he was until much later and never gathered a studio of students that would buy 13 tubas. Also, in the 1960's-60's Jacobs was an artist rep for Holton, not York.

So while it might be true, too many things don't add up.