convertible (e.g., Getzen) tubas


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TubeNet BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Kenneth Sloan on July 27, 2003 at 12:11:43:

This question is motivated by a thread below (and similar discussions in the past).

The conventional wisdom is that the Getzen plays better as a CC than it does as a BBb. The most common description seems to be that it's "more open" as a CC (or..."stuffy" as a BBb).

No one (that I've seen recently) has commented on intonation tendencies of the two sides.

Now...my (amateur) reading of the acoustics literature leads me to believe that (all other things being equal) the ratio of conical to cylindrical tubing is very important in getting the various partials to line up properly.

It seems to me that the BBb side must necessarily have a higher percentage of cylindrical tubing [am I mistaken about this?] and this probably explains the "somewhat stuffy" assessment. The comments people make seem to line up well with theory.

No one seems to comment on intonation tendencies. Does anyone have any thoughts on whether intonation is optimized for the CC side, the BBb side, a compromise between the two...or is there something exceedingly clever in the design that I don't understand?


Follow Ups: