Holton short action valves

[Donn]

I know the Holton short action valve isn't new here, but maybe exotic enough to serve as a pretext for showing off my tuba:


(^ note the flattened tubing at the ports.)


(^ crowd of tubing seen from beneath, all ports on the same side of the case.)



Working pretty well for me so far. It has had some knocks in its long life, and a rough journey here, so it's due for a little fixing up, but the sound is not greatly impaired. Full, almost sweet, from the top to the bottom, but with plenty of edge when pushed. Intonation isn't a problem - partials are all good, the ones I have any use for anyway.

The short action valves, I think someone here had one from the '30s and Dan's Holton sousaphone is '46. From the serial number, mine's '41. I like them better than I thought I would. The tuba plays well enough, and they're so light and easy! Model number is unknown to me, I guess other than the valves it's similar to model 105.

I don't know if it's the valve design, or it there's something else going on here, but it's harder to get full resonance in the range a couple ledger lines below the staff. D, C, B, even Bb. These notes actually don't sound too different when I play right up against a wall, but that difference in resonance makes them seem different behind the bell, and the "slot" isn't very well defined.

[Dan Schultz]

Yes... I regard these short-action Holtons as being good players. I have both a sousa and a tuba. According to serial number records... my sousa is 1941 and the tuba is 1936. There may be a typo on my web page or I didn't read the number list correctly.

Both my sousa and tuba are solid in the low register. I have found that the valve alignment is quite sensitive... probably due to the large seal area and shallow 'land' between the ports.

Neither of mine see much play. The only time they get 'tooted' is when folks drop by to see whatever strange stuff I have here on a given day!

I ought to sell them as a 'set'. It's pretty rare to see them both side-by-side.

[edsel585960]

Even with the dings it looks like a sweet old BAT.

[Donn]

My playing is sure not "world class", particularly I have poor breath control. But getting better - and I'm happy to say that this Holton is mostly very easy to play in that regard, even though it's about as big as they get. Just that one harder spot in the range. Valve alignment is sure something to look into there - though the same valves sound great on G and F in the register below.

[Donn]

According to serial number records... my sousa is 1941 and the tuba is 1936.

OK, that makes more sense to me - it seemed odd to me that they'd have turned out a few more of them right after the war, and then stopped production. The production numbers must have been pretty small.

[Peach]

MAW valve precursor =)

[Dan Schultz]

According to serial number records... my sousa is 1941 and the tuba is 1936.

OK, that makes more sense to me - it seemed odd to me that they'd have turned out a few more of them right after the war, and then stopped production. The production numbers must have been pretty small.

I tried for a while to gather some production information about the SA Holtons. The serial number of my sousa is 1462XX and the tuba is 11949XX. I think that spread is pretty much emblematic of the production span even thought the date on the patent application is June 5, 1923.

Lore has it that Conn sued Holton over the 'short-action' name even though the basis for each companys patents was very different. Don't know if they settled or if a court ever ruled on the issue. I think it's likely that Holton just willingly withdrew from the market.

Hey, Mike L... what's the 'poop' on this?