Tuba Design Question/Thought

JayW · Post by **JayW** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:16 pm

Ok, now this is going to show that i REALLY have too much time on my hands, but.......
I was thinking about how Tubas are designed and certain aspects that I know come into issue in terms of quality/playability. I was wondering if it would be feasable? cost effective? worth it? to try and design a tuba that had a minimal (as close to none as possible) number of joints in it??? Instead of using different pieces of tubing to accomplish bends and such, why not bend all of the tubing with a Madrel type pipe bender...and achieve a more seamless design? To anyone who knows anything about this (which would be more than I do ) could you please just give your $.02 to this idea. I am very interested as of late as to how designers come about the designs that are currently in production. Thanks.

Matt G · Post by **Matt G** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 6:25 pm

Think about repairs...

Very hard to take apart a tuba to repair a crushed bow when it is one piece.

Chuck(G) · Post by **Chuck(G)** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 7:43 pm

Matthew Gilchrest wrote:Think about repairs...

Very hard to take apart a tuba to repair a crushed bow when it is one piece.

Easy enough to solve that problem!

Just make the tuba out of papier mache--if you dent it, just throw it away and get another one...

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:19 pm

Matthew Gilchrest wrote:Think about repairs...

Very hard to take apart a tuba to repair a crushed bow when it is one piece.

It could always be cut and put back together with ferrules.

However, the REAL argument is the fact that there is no way to economically manufacture a one-piece tuba.... with special consideration to the conical sections. Next thing will be a suggestion to make the tubing and bends so the material thicknesses are consistant.