Posted by Rod Mathews on March 04, 2001 at 16:08:51:
In Reply to: 2165, a York Copy? posted by Am I Nutz? on March 04, 2001 at 09:48:57:
I was studying with Warren when he was working on the 2165. The horn that he was "experimenting" with was an older Yorkbrunner. It wound up with a different bell and bottom bow, the valve section relocated (I think...) the fifth valve relocated, among other minor/major tweaks. My impression is that he used that ongoing Yorkbrunner experiment to figure out what worked and what didn't, and then he and Gerhard started over from scratch for the 2165 based on the knowledge Warren had gained with the Frankenstein Yorkbrunner. Memory tells me that the bell and bottom bow he had on the Yorkbrunner were what became production for the 2165, but I may be wrong.
It was pretty cool starting my lesson each week with "so what's different on your horn THIS week??" I learned a lot about instruments through those brief conversations.
The other tuba that I know influenced him a lot was an old Conn tuba that he had pretty much redesigned. This is the one that he played in the Philharmonic up until around 1990, when he switched to the experimental Yorkbrunner. That Conn has a removable bell, and the collar was emulated with the heavy brass ring inside the bell of some of the 2165's that were produced.
My .02
Rod