Profound Eb haters

[Donn]

As for weird scales on very old Eb basses with small receivers some blame may be put on us the players using our big modern mouthpieces.

Very much so. Bores in general for older instruments were so very much smaller.

Yeah, like those old 1920s Kings and those terrible Yorks of the same period. So retro

Where's my sarcasm font

Where's my read-between-the-lines decoder? Are you trying to say

• King and York tubas from the 1920s have small bores, but are not old?
• King and York tubas from the 1920s are old, but do not have small bores?
• King and York tubas from the 1920s are old and have small bores, but play well with large mouthpieces?
• I like turtles

I tried to help myself on this one, but the best I could do with modest effort is to guess that old King monsters may have had a bore size around .689, but with valves immediately after the leadpipe, so even if you consider .689 small in general, maybe not so much here.

[J.c. Sherman]

York tubas and their bore are some of the most often copied and expensive copies made in the world.

The King tubas have the same bore they've had since their inception in the 'teens.

So, I'm that generalizing bores as being much smaller back then is inaccurate. In fact, they set the current standards.

Q.E.D.... and my Besson Eb would like a word with you too

...and I hate turtles...

[Donn]

So, I'm that generalizing bores as being much smaller back then is inaccurate. In fact, they set the current standards.

Maybe we need to be more accurate about when was "back then." If windshieldbug wasn't around during the US civil war, he seems suspiciously knowledgeable about that era. When would the modern era of tuba design begin? I don't know, as you say the last century or so hasn't seen a lot of radical change, so I guess you'd have to go farther back to see more distinctively "old" tuba designs.

and my Besson Eb would like a word with you too

bah - I hear only my Orsi Eb -- che bella! Bore ca. 0.669, with tuning slide before valves.

[J.c. Sherman]

So, I'm that generalizing bores as being much smaller back then is inaccurate. In fact, they set the current standards.

Maybe we need to be more accurate about when was "back then." If windshieldbug wasn't around during the US civil war, he seems suspiciously knowledgeable about that era. When would the modern era of tuba design begin? I don't know, as you say the last century or so hasn't seen a lot of radical change, so I guess you'd have to go farther back to see more distinctively "old" tuba designs.

and my Besson Eb would like a word with you too

bah - I hear only my Orsi Eb -- che bella! Bore ca. 0.669, with tuning slide before valves.

Your Orsi is bigger in the valves than a York Monster Eb bore

Radically different tubas are present through their initial development, 1835-1880. After 1880, things begin to take shape, nation to nation, key to key. Contrabass tubas from Cerveny... American Tubas by Conn and Boston MIM. The phasing out of the small-belled Ebs with rotors. Overseas, German Fs start to look similar from maker to maker, the French begin to narrow down to Bass Saxhorns in C or Bb, and the English move to the larger F tubas. In the US, we took a little longer, and eventually moved to the larger German sized contrabasses with quazi-French bore profiles, making the very distinct tubas we can identify in the beginning of the 20th century as "American Classics", some of which are copied or manufactured today identically millimeter to millimeter (See King 2340).

The Italians still haven't figured out what a tuba is for them...

Most modern tubas are either derivative or modeled on "classic" tubas from 90-100 years ago, or hybrids thereof.

[Antontuba]

I play a 981, and the other two tubist in the community band I play in are supportive (and understanding when I struggle with a few fingerings as I am still adjusting). I play the higher parts, we get a good sound, the three of us listen to each other to make it work (they're cool people to be in a band with).

Adam

[Jess Haney]

I have also seen some haters before here in Colorado over Eb. Most of it comes from CC "purist" players who never even played an Eb and judge based on what their teachers taught them. The Community bands that I sub or play in often welcome the sound of a bass tuba. It brings clarity to the section and gives focus to the sound of the contrabass tubas. In a section of 3 I play Eb and the others BBb. Supposedly I will be doing a gig in the fall with one player on BBb, one on CC, and I on Eb. All of us are good players so it will be interesting to hear the richness of sound from 3 different keyed horns. But yes I have also heard complaints like Rogers over the single timbred sound of British Ebs. IMHO componsators work best in a section (i.e brass band) and blend together to make a sound that is organ-like, and blends without ever hearing individuals. That is where the british componsator shines and was meant for. Eb was however very popular in the early 1900's and was often the tuba of choice for many bandsmen here in the USA. FWIW I feel that you should play what you want because you baught it and you like it. If the other guys turn their nose at it, maybe the section is not worth playing with.