Posted by Matt Chin on November 11, 2003 at 22:01:38:
In Reply to: Bb Conversion posted by Debbie on November 11, 2003 at 15:23:54:
I have owned my Getzen G50 for about 4 years, and your son will love this tuba. I agree with the other posts that learning CC fingering is best done cold turkey without going back to BBb fingerings during the learning process. He will get more proficient and get there faster this way. Soon, he will be able to play both CC and BBb well enough for most cases. I play all my indoor stuff on CC and outdoor stuff (Tuba Christmas and parades) on my BBb Helicon (my pre-dented horn).
Your post does raise some questions. The 5th valve (thumb activated), if a flat whole step, is what you need to convert it to a BBb tuba. You just need to convert the valve such that the normal position redirects the air through the extra tubing at rest or you can simply close the valve with your thumb and your horn is a slightly out of tune BBb (don't change the other valve slides). So I guess that your tuba was shipped with another interval other than a flat whole step. The flat whole step tubing is most common.
Tell him to enjoy the horn and in no time he will be as comfortable with CC fingerings as he is now with BBb.
Good luck and he is a fortunate high school musician...
Matt Chin
Yarmouth, ME
Getzen G-50
MW 182 F
BBb Higham Helicon