Re: Re: Re: 7 Valve Tuba


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Posted by Frederick J. Young on January 26, 2001 at 11:11:30:

In Reply to: Re: Re: 7 Valve Tuba posted by Ed Heckman on January 24, 2001 at 21:36:52:

My King-Gronitz weighs about 80 pounds. Although it is a chore to transport it I enjoy playing it. The advandages of having a double horn are greater than only intonation. They involve tone color and flexibility. I started pulling slides about 55 years ago in order to be in tune. It was tiresome and a bit confusing because electronic tuners did not exist. I never saw any slide pullers in those days including Bill Bell and Arnold Jacobs. On my double tuba there are three or four notes that need adujstment and it is easly done using the right alternate fingering. For example, the B natural three spaces below the staff is 15 cents flat and rather than using open on the EEE tuba I use valve 5 on the EEE tuba. The combination 24 on the BBb tuba is 15 cents sharp. Third space e is 10 cents flat with valve 2 on the BBb tuba but in the EEE side it is in tune open.

The difficulty with getting Wilson, Miraphone or Hirsbrunner to make anything different than they make is that they will deny that anything could be better. They would require you to guarantee that they would sell dozens of anything they would make. And having seen their shops I doubt that the standards of manufacture are as good as they were in the old King, Conn and York factories 60 years ago!

For $10000 to 15000 you could get Gronitz to make a special tuba or for $7000 to 8000 they would make you one of their standard CC double tritonus Kaiser tubas. I doubt you would ever have to pull slides on one of them!


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