new-to-me Besson 3+1 comp. Eb recording bass

[sousaphone68]

green with envy congratulations on the new tuba

[dave_matheson]

NICE !! ...

... mind you, I AM rather biased towards the sound of older Bessons, esp. those with a recording bell

[barry grrr-ero]

Joe,

The cut that you're doing was something that was done to many Imperial Eefers at Phil Parker's shop in London, hence it was called the 'Parker cut'. I had it done to my 3+1 decades ago, plus adding the 19" bell and larger leadpipe (with a morris taper receiver). As I recall, John Fletcher liked using the Bach 24AW and the Helleberg 7B on these tubas. I wish I had kept that horn, as it had an amazing sound. The front action 983 is a bit more more 'open' with the low notes though.

[Jay Bertolet]

I suppose, then, I'll rename it the "bloke cut"...Perhaps I'll be famous...(??)

Don't mean to ruin your fun Joe but that particular cut (to fix a relatively flat overall tuning on this particular brand of Eb tuba) was known as the Fletcher Cut. It was suggested to me when I used a 981 back in the day. I was having the same problem as you describe. Rather than cut the horn, I decided to shave down the shank on my mouthpiece and it worked just enough. Enjoy your new horn.

[Art Hovey]

The late "Red" Balaban used to have a horn like that which had originally belonged to Sidney DeParis.

[barry grrr-ero]

Fletch told me it was called the 'Parker cut', so maybe he didn't want to credit. Anyway, the guy who did it for me was in Gilroy, of all places.

I think the 983 has a bit low range because the wrap of the 3rd and 4th valve tubing is more open. Just my zwei groschen.

[Untersatz]

Hi Jay,
I considered the shank approach...and that should get me most of the way there...but I may want to use a deep cup mpc. sometimes...as deep cup mpc's work well with these instruments...and a deep-cup mpc. would work against me, as far as pitch level is concerned.

Parker...bloke...Fletcher...

♪ ♫ Let's call the whole thing off.

...so, how about THIS cut...??


This is what can happen if you use a 24AW for too many years.

I wasn't quite sure what part of human anatomy we are looking at here Joe?
It is human?..........right?

[Three Valves]

If God dealt you fat and unattractive, why not double down!!

[ken k]

Actually if you take that joint apart you may find that it is not put together all the way, the two pieces may not be touching. that was the case with my B&H.
BTW, it was great to meet with you this past weekend at the tuba/euph conference.
ken k

[Jay Bertolet]

Not a surprising solution, this very fix was something I envisioned when hearing the legend regarding these horns:

It was relayed to me that the person who play tested each Besson that came off the line (this was many years ago) was a gentleman that preferred to use a very small mouthpiece. His job was to play each horn produced to make sure there were no defects and that the horn played relatively in tune. Since his mouthpiece was on the small side, most of these horns play a bit low for most folks. The problem is exacerbated on this side of the pond because we tend to use larger mouthpieces generally. My solution of shaving down the shank of a 24AW that I was using with mine worked like a charm and was far less risky than surgery.

[iiipopes]

Deep mouthpiece? Just add a spacer and a profundo rim to the Imperial.

[Tom Eshelman]

That horn is so happy that you bought it from me! It's like a Phoenix rising from Arizona. I noticed that a Conn 4 seemed to cure the flatness - but who can stand that tone. You're the man when it comes to "superb equipment".

[Tom Eshelman]

I just took another look at the picture you took of it and noted two things: you really brought that bell back from the rough shape it was in, ... and apparently you sleep with the horn at night. Does Mrs Bloke mind?

[imperialbari]

Like the King case for B&S F tuba?

[imperialbari]

Not to spoil any game, but I would higly wonder, if the Eb and BBb comp loops were of the same diameters, as my source says they are .730" and .773" respectively.

I don't at all agree with your plan about lengthening that 3rd comp slide, but you still have the stuff to do so, as the main, BBb side, slides are of the .730" diameter. Only it takes some cutting and soldering.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

I am not sure I prevented a screw-up, because you hadn’t been able to put the BBb comp slide into any slide receivers on the Eb.

One reason I do not agree with the lengthening of the 3rd comp loop is that on my Besson 981 Eb the low G concert is way better when fingered 34 than when fingered 124.

I have a main tuning slide trigger on my YEP-641. On my Wilson Marzan-type euph I pull the 4th slide with my left thumb and push it with the lower side of my index knuckle.

A short main slide and the valve configuration prevent similar solutions on the Besson 981.

If I had your technical skills, my preferred solution would be a vented 3rd piston (at least for the lower set of ports involving the Eb side front slide) and then a trigger on that frontside 3rd slide. Likely the ideal touchpoint of the trigger activator would be what we call håndroden (= the root of the hand = the edge of the palm next to the wrist). Still flexible, but without the sore skin and tissue of the underside of the wrist.

The trigger activator of the YEP-641 trigger sits between the branches of the 3rd front slide, which is ideal for activation by the left thumb. Not possible, or hard to realise, on the Eb comper with the 4th piston sitting under the 3rd slide. Neither Hirsbrunner’s nor Miraphone’s early euph triggers with their downwards movement for the thumb appealed to me (actually I considered them samples of very bad and unimaginative engineering). Hence håndroden.

When I in special situations want a good low CC on my 1970 Besson 3+1 BBb comper, I pull the 3rd slide a semitone for a major third in total. The 3rd comp slide is pulled adequately for an in tune Db fingered 34. The CC then becomes manageable when fingered 234. But the changes are clumsy to execute, and the long 3rd valve skews intuitive fingering.

Klaus