Posted by Jay Bertolet on April 19, 2001 at 08:19:06:
In Reply to: German F syndrome posted by Sven Bring on April 19, 2001 at 01:38:06:
I am certainly no expert on F tuba designs (or any other tuba designs) but my guess is that it is inherent in the design of the typical German F tuba. The F tubas that don't have this problem, or have it to a much lesser extent, are designs like the two Yamahas (621 & 822). All of the typical German designs (B&S, PT, etc.) seem to have this problem to some extent. Even some Eb tubas like the Cervany 641, which is the Eb version of their similar F tuba (I don't remember the model number off the top of my head) play this way and have the same problems. I don't think it has anything to do with the construction of the horn, so much as it does with the overall design.
Instrument design is such a complex endeavor that I'm not even going to try and guess why this phenomenon exists. Studying the similarities and differences in designs that perform in different ways might yield some conclusions. Perhaps detailed examination of the differences between the Yamaha designs and the typical German designs might offer some ideas of why the designs perform so differently. At my level of understanding, anything I could offer now would be a flat guess.
My opinion for what it's worth...