York Monster Eb rebuild thread

[Lectron]

I purchased this body from a very nice tubenetter..

..and this Nirschl valveset some time ago. Just haven't gotten started yet.

The body is completely dent free. Not even a love dent.
The silver is also in very good condition to it's age.

The previous owner didn't get to start on this project, and luckily for
me he was willing to sell it for what I consider a decent price.

Some parts where still missing thou. The small top bow was unoriginal and had a
very uneven tapering. I would also need a MTS and the tubes connecting it.
I would also like to aim for a slightly more even tapering in general toward the
small bottom bow, making it less aggressive at that particular point.
As seen in the picture, I was lucky to find what I was looking for.
The small top-bow is heavier than original, but it tapers VERY even
from the main tuning slide. I also chose to have the 5th circuit on back

Here seen beside my 981, nothing attached yet.

And here (a very poor pic) of how the project is right now

The allignment looks worse than it is (wide lens/cell cam)
The main tuning slide will be cut about an inch.

I pushed on an old lead-pipe and tried it, and god was I surprised!
It actually sounded good. The 2nd and 4th partial (octave) was within 5 cent!
and the 3rd stayed exactly where it was suppose to! IT WAS IN TUNE

[Lectron]

Can the fifth valve be removed for maintenance or must it be un-soldered from the body/valve-section?

The 5th clears, yes. It's hard to see from the picture, and it's not by much
It will also come a good centimeter and a half closer to the valvecluster

I think this will be one amazing horn! It sure has all the right elements.

Thank You

[jon112780]

How much pull will the 1st valve slide have? It looks really close to the bell.

[Lectron]

I have not cut the innerslides, so it still has the full ~5" pull if needed.
(Without needing a hole in the bell)

[Lectron]

Ha ha, yes.

I might shorten the 1st slide (inner AND outer) to be able to tune in on those flat partials
My CC tuba has something like 4-5 cm pull i 'neutral' position
Quite handy on that upper staff D and below staff F# (among others)
Sill more than enough pull if I'd cut an inch

[Bob Kolada]

The biggest surprise is the in tune octave!

Sweet horn!

[Lectron]

The biggest surprise is the in tune octave!

Sweet horn!

Thanks Bob

....and I might do a li'll rephrase there.
When hitting the octave, it was happy enough by only doubling
the frequency, not making that octave any wider than necessary

[Mark E. Chachich]

I have used a York Monster (4 valve) E flat as my bass tuba since 1978 (clearly I like them). I like it when someone puts one of these into useable form. Good work and enjoy your York!

best,
Mark

[Lectron]

A few more pics.

The horn is more or less done now.
A little more shaping of the leadpipe, and an additional ~1cm cut of the MTS

Plays very nice indeed

Privileged tones are very solid...makes one wonder 'bout the need of a 4th and 5th
(actually I don't, but still. Kinda amusing how easy these speak )

I've also worked out the paddle/mechanic for he 5th. That will come on the next pictures
(and not from these horrible wide phone cams)

[Lectron]

Some more pics







Quite happy with the 5th linkage. An old clockspring

I'm working on how I want to attach the thumbring, and aiming toward something a bit artful.
Having this blacksmith friend, he can make whatever I want (5 axis laser/water-jet),
but I'm hoping to 'find' something I can use. So for now...No thumbring.

[Lectron]

Thank you for the kind words.

It plays really nice, yes! A few quirky notes, but nothing huge.
The above staff open Eb slots poorly, but a few hours behind the horn could probably solve that.
There's also the below staff Bb that has a tendency to be dreaded. (the typical 6v rotary phenomena)
The dreaded interval, if one can call it that, is so narrow so it does not make a real problem but it's there.
Anyways...It is no more than noticeable, and pitched a tad below that Bb (but above A)

But the response! WOW. One feel that the tone actually leaves the shall before setting it.
Articulation is a dream.......And this is a big bell. It's against physic laws....
...and I don't mind a bit


Edit:
I've never experienced those dreaded notes (or hardly ever) on such conical piston instruments and had to check it over.
It was a leaky spit valve. New cork, problem solved

[Lectron]

Slots are very wide, indeed. lipping an interval of 40 and still have a good tone, no problem
As long as the dynamic is moderate that is. So TBH. I wouldn't know about all the oddness
yet as I'm pretty much used to buzzing in tune and only adjust for larger intonation issues.
They would reveal themselves in louder dynamics thou. Anything above ff, and the instrument
is pretty much in charge of the intonation.

As for being loud, well yes it is, but I am impressed by how good it resonate also @ weaker
volumes and still offers good control. I can not say my other Ebs (mostly compensated ones)
has been close. Maybe the MW 2141, but that was just a loaner (very nice BTW).

I will work more with the intonation when I get it finished, and I expect there to be a few quirks,
but first impression in moderate dynamics (due to std. sized rooms) it's better than I was hoping for.


some homemade duets would be great BTW

[Lectron]

Fingerbuttons....

The ones one has no fillings, but looks good in raw brass along with the rest of the valve tubing
I do in fact have another set of raw ones with mother of pearl but in use on my CC

I was thinking on making a set out of time correct silver coins, and I might do, but for now

Having to sets in silver with two different greens, I oxidized one of them to get a nice patina
Should work OK

[Lectron]

[Euphtub]

That is one amazing looking tuba. Well done!

[Conn 2J CC]

Beautiful horn, indeed. Where's the "Like" button on this forum?

[iiipopes]

Damn. I drooled on the keyboard and had to clean it up.

[Untersatz]

WOW!!! for an Eb horn...........that thing is a BEAST!!!

Very nice job of breathing some new life back into that old classic.

[Lectron]

Thank You All for your kind words.

It is very playable, but I will not say it's without quirks
The only one very noticeable one thou is a very sharp C staff (1-2),
but running a flat 3rd doesn't introduce any problems and brings it
down to an easy lipable area.

The privileged tones...said it before. Very solid. As I with 5 valves
don't really need them, maybe too solid. I can feel them all the way up
to Eb below staff, and they makes the Bb below a bit troublesome.

I messed up the leadpipe a bit. Hard to see at the picture, but adjusting
in a bit without taking it of and filling it wasn't really one of my brightest
moments. One of the faster ones thou

But It's OK. I wasn't too comfortable with the black stuff it was filled with
in the first place and it didn't really come out as nice as I wanted.

I started with a higher leadpipe, but got too close to the bell
On an other instrument that would might work, but there's really
something with these York bells. It's like they play music by
themselves......And loud...and what a sound
I needed some distance tho as it was too much.

Being quite fond of my BlokePiece Symphony, I must admit that it takes
a bit to control the horn with it. It's not a fight, but it all moves lighter
with different ones/shallower ones.

But. The result using it is NICE. An enveloping sound commonly associated to BATs
And this from a basstuba. And with an impressive dynamic range capable of
keeping it's tonal character throughout it.

Na, I like it a lot. It has already started to grow on me, but is an instrument that
takes more getting used to that most modern ones I've played.
But that's what it's about. Getting used to. Learning how to play it.

I had several nice comments at the gigs today saying the tuba sounded
phenomenal. What a great sound.

I claimed that was actually me, not the tuba, but I was left no honor.

[Lectron]

You're saying this doesn't look like a tuba part?



This federalist style brass eagle (that looks more like a sparrow or duck ) is to a part of
the thumb-ring/wrist-rest assembly.

It's gonna look better than it sounds....Or. It has too, 'course I can see it really sounds
a bit awkward.