F Bass Tuba Tuning Tendencies

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ATschetter
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F Bass Tuba Tuning Tendencies

Post by ATschetter »

So I'll be heading up to Wessex's outlet in Michigan next week to look at the Berg F tuba for my undergraduate work. I have very limited experience on F tuba as far as knowing general tuning tendencies of the instrument, and I am wondering if anybody has measured the tuning of any B&S, Willson, Miraphone, Meinl Weston, or Wessex F horns I could use as a reference. Or if anybody just has any general comments about F tuba tuning feel free to share. Thanks.
Hirsbrunner 392 CC
Wessex Berg F
Besson 794 BBb
A bunch of non-tubas that'd make this signature too long
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ATschetter
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Re: F Bass Tuba Tuning Tendencies

Post by ATschetter »

I am not asking for suggestions on what to buy, only notes or studies people have made on bass tuba tuning.
Hirsbrunner 392 CC
Wessex Berg F
Besson 794 BBb
A bunch of non-tubas that'd make this signature too long
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Ken Crawford
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Re: F Bass Tuba Tuning Tendencies

Post by Ken Crawford »

I owned a Berg. Intonation was its strongest asset, intonation with itself was fantastic. Pay close attention to slide alignment and soldering quality. Look at the braces, and the ferrules to verify tubing is lined up well. Bring a bright little flashlight to look into the horn for messy soldering. Shine a light down the MTS pipe so you can see the valves, make sure they aren't all gunked up and not lined up, the 5th as well from the top. Use the valves a lot, make sure they don't mysteriously bind up randomly. Bring a tuner to make sure the MTS isn't too long. Before you take it home, drop it off to be professionally cleaned and have the valves aligned. This cleaning and service may expose issues you wouldn't have noticed, within your two week return window.

The Bergs play extremely well, tuning won't present any problems, look for build quality issues.
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swillafew
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Re: F Bass Tuba Tuning Tendencies

Post by swillafew »

I had a Rudy Meinl, a B&S, and now a Meinl Weston, and have used the 3rd and 4th valves as alternate fingerings on G and C. That was sufficient to tune up the scale.
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ATschetter
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Re: F Bass Tuba Tuning Tendencies

Post by ATschetter »

bloke wrote:
ATschetter wrote:I am not asking for suggestions on what to buy, only notes or studies people have made on bass tuba tuning.
notes:
"Most all of them are difficult to play in tune without pulling slides or lipping, and most all of them feature a very sharp second-space C, except for the one that I told you to buy".

bloke "dude... :roll: "
My bad, didn't pay too close attention to the post and just the horn you linked to. Solid info.
Hirsbrunner 392 CC
Wessex Berg F
Besson 794 BBb
A bunch of non-tubas that'd make this signature too long
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