A real travel tuba

[elihellsten]

Seems like a brilliant idea really. I would love that kind of valve hinges on my Norwegian Star. If they start producing them I will consider adding them to my tuba.

[Dan Schultz]

Slick as snail snot! I want one! Don't need none, but I want one!

And that there ladies and gentlemen sums this up for me too

I think it's a GREAT idea and wish I had thought of it! I think they could take the bell idea a little farther and make it telescopic... sort of like those collapsible drinking cups of about fifty years ago.

And... this kind of excitement is exactly what drives me to think this type of stuff will be 'cloned' rather quickly. Too bad the 'cloners' can't think for themselves!

[Oystein Baadsvik]

This solution was special designed for my needs and the Miraphone guys did not really see a market at all for such adaptations. Still some european tuba players had heard about this valve solution (maybe through a worker at the factory) and immediately had Miraphone adapt their instruments too. Personally I have not told anyone until yesterday:)

[J.c. Sherman]

Mr. Baadsvik,

Do you have a photo of the fully assembled horn?

J.c.S.

[Trumgottist]

I agree with Øystein's statement that it's not the sound of the tuba defines an artist, but I'd still find it interesting to know what, if any, differences this caused to the playing of the instrument.

[jacobg]

Could someone make a poor man's version of this buy buying an old detachable bell tuba (like a king recording bell, those seem cheap?) and having a two piece upright bell made for it? How much would it cost to make a simple bell?

[zangerzzz]

I'd be interested also in an estimated cost for removing a fixed bell and making it a 2 piece for easier traveling.

ThnkZ

[Rick Denney]

Even I have had occasions when being able to fly with a small F tuba would have been a real boon. I have flown with my Yamaha 621, but its case is too weak to avoid depending on luck to get there without damage. And the most vulnerable part of the case is the part this design avoids--the projecting valves and the edges of the bell.

Not everyone needs a small F only when they travel, but it would be nice to have.

Time to start buying Lotto tickets again.

Rick "betting anyone with the scratch could persuade Miraphone to make one for them, too" Denney

[J.c. Sherman]

I'm still despairing that I have no photo of the assembled instrument...

As for the cost of making an assembly like this, you'd need a LOT of scratch, since so few of us would want to get NEAR a project like that

J.c.S. (who notes the only thing worse than making one removable bell joint is...)

[Lew]

This is a very cool looking horn and I think it is a very clever solution to a real problem, at least facing Øystein. There are probably a reasonable number of tuba players who travel for whom this would be a good solution, but still not enough to make this a standard production model.

Still, the best part of this thread is that Øystein took the time to comment and clarify some things. There is nothing as good as hearing it from the source.

[jacobg]

If removable bells are the most convenient way to travel, and have been widely adopted by horn players despite the (debatable) cons, why have they not caught on with tubas and trombone players?
I have a trombone with a detachable bell, which is unbelievable convenient. Why is this not standard for tubas, which are now so vulnerable to oversize flight charges?
The double bass community has changed habits radically since 9/11 - it's virtually impossible to use a bass flight case anymore. Shouldn't tubas do the same?