Posted by Tom Railsback on March 19, 2001 at 21:21:01:
In Reply to: BBb to Eb posted by Jess Ryan on March 19, 2001 at 20:45:25:
I started on an Eb SOusaphone 40 yars ago this spring in eighth grade. That summer my
teacher switched me to BBb because that's all the high school had in the way of horns,
as I recall an old King sousaphone, a Pan American, A conn 20K and a 20J. I played BBb
exclusively through college and got my B.M. in Music Education in 1970. I never had the
money to buy my own horn until the spring of 1970 when I ran onto an old H.N. White King
that I was able to buy for $50.00 (BBb). After I spent a winter in the Army, I went back to college and went into history but kept playing tuba. From time to time the owner of
the store where I got the BBb King told me about other old horns he had in his warehouse
and I started looking for an Eb just to see if I could learn the fingerings. I bought
several different one and traded them back and forth with that dealer and another friend
who had a store across the street from the first store.
However, I didn't really get back to Eb until I came to Great Falls MT and met an Air Force Captain who also is an Eb freak. In 1989, I stopped at Taylor Muswic in Aberdeen SD on this friend's recommendation and picked up a Conn upright for next to nothing. I
played around with it for several years and was hooked. This past fall I bought a King
Eb from this same friend and have been playing it about half the time; I'm now to the place where I can switch from Eb to BBb and vice versa without any trouble. It just takes
concentration to remember the different fingering combinations. I do not recommend
changing instruments in the middle of rehearsal or concert as you do get mixd up , but from day to day is another matter.
Good Luck in whatever you decide to do.
Tom "The Silver Tuba on the CB" Railsback