Alexander 163 Vs Kalison Daryl Smith

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bort
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Re: Alexander 163 Vs Kalison Daryl Smith

Post by bort »

Tom, if this is so great, why risk the leadpipe and 5th valve changes?
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Re: Alexander 163 Vs Kalison Daryl Smith

Post by MackBrass »

bort wrote:Tom, if this is so great, why risk the leadpipe and 5th valve changes?
Thats a good question. The changes i am considering are the same i did to my other Alex and they improved the horn greatly. Everything i am thinking of will be reversible so if for sone reason it doesnt work i can change it back. One thing that is noticeably better on my Alex is the pop it has and the low register, i think its due to the smaller taper in the leadpipe. The 4v alex seems to be a looser blow if that makes sense and not as much pop especially in the low register and at the very least i think changing the leadpipe will help in that area. I know the Alex i have altered is a freak of a horn as far as the 163 cc goes so if i have half the success on this 4v it will be a huge winner. The main thing Craigs horn has over my other 163 is the pitch, the pitch is far better on his than what i started out with on mine. The biggest difference i see between the two 163 tubas is one is about 2 inches taller than the other, go figure. I guess this is what happeneds when you just cut the main tuning slide to bring a tuba from BBb to CC which is all Alexander did to make the earlier 163 CC tubas.

As a note, my old Alex started out as a regular standard 4v Alex that played about 40 cents flat across the board. I started out with cutting abiut 2 inches off the leadpipe to bring the pitch up then made one change at a time in stages making sure each change worked.
Tom McGrady
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Chris Mayer
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Re: Alexander 163 Vs Kalison Daryl Smith

Post by Chris Mayer »

....and except the model 173 is what Alexander maybe now with some minor tweaks still does today, cutting a BB more or less straight down to a CC by removing some length of tubing after the 4th valve leading to a side main tuning slide (BB) or a straight main tuning slide (CC).

A friend of mine got a silver 164 BB 5-6 years ago which was reworked from a 164 CC which got heavily damaged during shipment to the US by just replacing the CC tubing with the necessary Bb tubing in the main tuning slide area and of course also each tuning slide. Everything else, mouthpipe, bows, bell, remained the same as in the cc to reform an original 164 BB.

Maybe somebody could further elobarate on the way of making an 163/164 CC RIGHT now and the impact on intonation.

I can only say, that I have never found a sound equivalent to an Alex or maybe a Rudi. Their sound is so much more deep, complex and warm...

regards

Chris
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