York Monster Eb 4 Valve Conversion Project

[Art Hovey]

Small-bore top-action York BBb tubas do appear now and then on Ebay. I took the valve set off of mine several years ago and replaced it with a larger-bore front-action machine, resulting in a really magnificent tuba. I saved the old valve set, hoping that someone with and Eb tuba might find it useful; it's way too small for a BBb tuba, in my opinion. The first guy I had in mind for it was playing a huge Conn Eb with 3 pistons. He retired and moved away. The second prospect was a left-handed one-armed man playing a front-action Eb (very well!) by reaching over the top. He considered using my valveset, but then bought a St Pete that was modified to play left-handed.
I am very pleased that my valveset has finally found a good home after years of neglect and rejection.

[wewhit]

Having never heard a "York Monster Eb Bass", how does their sound compare to say a Besson Sovereign? Are they more contra-bass sounding?

I have recently been playing a fairly new Besson 983 and the York has a sound that I describe as "more colorful" or "thicker." ...not that the Besson was "thin."

I'm meeting with Ben Pierce http://www.benpierce.com/bio.html on Sat., so I'll know how it really sounds after he playes it.