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I don't post photos of my kids on the internet... so if a picture is worth a thousand words, sorry, you're getting a thousand words.

My 10-year old son is learning to play tuba, and is using my Martin medium Eb. I have a small Miraphone gig bag that fits it very well.

When I took him to school with it the first time, the band teacher carried the tuba into the building for my son. On Friday, when I picked my son up from school, he came walking over to the car with the gig bag on his back and described it as being "pretty comfortable" and "not as heavy as I thought it would be." He also said it was pretty fun** and when I reminded him that I'm trying to get a small BBb tuba for him to use, he said "don't change it, I like this one."

**How to speak Minnesotan: A description of pretty something, like pretty fun or pretty good is typically a significant compliment, and sometimes the highest praise that something can get.

bort2.0 wrote: Mon Sep 22, 2025 1:24 pm I don't post photos of my kids on the internet... so if a picture is worth a thousand words, sorry, you're getting a thousand words.

My 10-year old son is learning to play tuba, and is using my Martin medium Eb. I have a small Miraphone gig bag that fits it very well.

When I took him to school with it the first time, the band teacher carried the tuba into the building for my son. On Friday, when I picked my son up from school, he came walking over to the car with the gig bag on his back and described it as being "pretty comfortable" and "not as heavy as I thought it would be." He also said it was pretty fun** and when I reminded him that I'm trying to get a small BBb tuba for him to use, he said "don't change it, I like this one."

**How to speak Minnesotan: A description of pretty something, like pretty fun or pretty good is typically a significant compliment, and sometimes the highest praise that something can get.

Hey, that was only 182 words. What a rip-off!

Ufda.

arpthark wrote: Mon Sep 22, 2025 1:31 pm

bort2.0 wrote: Mon Sep 22, 2025 1:24 pm I don't post photos of my kids on the internet... so if a picture is worth a thousand words, sorry, you're getting a thousand words.

My 10-year old son is learning to play tuba, and is using my Martin medium Eb. I have a small Miraphone gig bag that fits it very well.

When I took him to school with it the first time, the band teacher carried the tuba into the building for my son. On Friday, when I picked my son up from school, he came walking over to the car with the gig bag on his back and described it as being "pretty comfortable" and "not as heavy as I thought it would be." He also said it was pretty fun** and when I reminded him that I'm trying to get a small BBb tuba for him to use, he said "don't change it, I like this one."

**How to speak Minnesotan: A description of pretty something, like pretty fun or pretty good is typically a significant compliment, and sometimes the highest praise that something can get.

Hey, that was only 182 words. What a rip-off!

Well, if we quote it another 4 times...

That would be 728 words… or 910 if you add those four to the existing one.

the elephant wrote: Wed Sep 24, 2025 8:50 pm That would be 728 words… or 910 if you add those four to the existing one.

I did kinda figure we'd contribute a few of our own words into the mix, which would in turn be qouted.

But apparently people can just respond with normal posts without quoting, so my cunning plan is foiled.... Or something.

'Nother from last night's show.

My list of tubas I owned and played over my 45 years of playing looks like the inventory of either Dillon Music or Baltimore Brass Company. Here they are as best I can remember.

- V. F. Cerveney CC tall model purchased from Walter Sear.
- CC Sonora tuba.
- Alexander 4 rotary valved CC tuba.
- H. N. White/King 4 rotary valved CC tuba.
- Alexander 4 rotary valved CC tuba (a different one than before).
- H. N. White/King 5 piston valved CC tuba.
- Rudolph Meinl 5/4 - 5 rotary valved CC tuba acquired from Warren Deck
- Miraphone 188 5 rotary valved CC tuba
- York, Bob Rusk cut, 4 piston valved CC tuba.
- Yamaha - 5 rotary valved CC tuba, early Dallenbach model
- Meinl Weston Bill Bell Model 4 rotary valved CC tuba
- Another York, Bob Rusk cut, 4 piston &1 rotary valved CC tuba.
- Meinl Weston Symphony Model 5 rotary valved CC tuba
- Plus, about a dozen Eb tubas over the years

I never had one tuba that was my one absolute favorite. Two of the CC tubas in the list that were maybe co-favorites were my 5-piston valved King and the 5/4 Rudy Meinl. I loved the sound and intonation of the King but, there was something about the structure of the King piston cluster that hurt my right hand when I played. I wound up playing it with my right wrist and hand in a steel reinforced Velcro splint. I loved the large sound and fire power of my 5/4 Rudy Meinl but, as a free-lance player, it was too big a sound to be played as an all-purpose tuba. All of the tubas on my list were serviceable but, I guess that I just never found an instrument with which I have fallen head-over-heels in love.

hbcrandy wrote: Sun Oct 19, 2025 11:41 pm
- Plus, about a dozen Eb tubas over the years

OH man.. those are the ones I want to know about.

If you really want to know about my Eb tubas, here they are as best I can remember:

- 3 Yamaha non-compensating Eb tubas (not in succession). My first was when my teacher, Paul K. came back from a Philadelphia Orchestra tour to Japan and brought 3 back. He thought it was time for me to learn how to play a bass tuba and the Yamaha was a really nice instrument with a good sound and less expensive than any F tuba made.
- Top action York monster Eb tuba with 4 valves. The low register was stuffy for me.
- Holton (Chicago) ca. 1910, 4 valved, top action Eb Tuba with valves configured 3 &1 like the Besson.
- Small Conn 4 valved, top action Eb tuba ca. 1920.
- 3 Besson Eb tubas (not in succession)
- Large Conn 4 valved, top action Eb tuba ca. 1910. In superb condition with elaborate engraving. Sound was huge but the intonation was horrendous.
-Meinl Weston 5 valved Eb tuba.
- Modified front action York Monster Eb tuba. The modifications were my own design. I removed the original York .656" valve set and replaced it with a .687" valve cluster and plumbing. I added a flat whole step rotary 5th valve below the 4-piston cluster and devised a right-had thumb lever for it. The lead pipe was my own design. The sound was huge and dark, there was VERY little resistance throughout the range of the tuba and the intonation was superb. Its photo is below.

hbcrandy wrote: Tue Oct 21, 2025 10:11 pm If you really want to know about my Eb tubas, here they are as best I can remember:

- 3 Besson Eb tubas (not in succession)

Oh thank you. Now..tell me about these 3 lovelies.

anadmai wrote: Wed Oct 22, 2025 6:55 am

hbcrandy wrote: Tue Oct 21, 2025 10:11 pm If you really want to know about my Eb tubas, here they are as best I can remember:

- 3 Besson Eb tubas (not in succession)

Oh thank you. Now..tell me about these 3 lovelies.

One was a 17" bell and did not produce enough sound and the other 2 were stuffy and not very resonant.

Not me... but my daughter had her first school band concert on tuba last night. The King 2341 is as big as she is.

the elephant wrote: Fri Oct 24, 2025 12:34 pm <snicker>



</snicker>

The Elephone!!

Eighth grade me with one of my Jr High School horns around 1982. This was a 4v Bb Conn, I’d been thinking it was a 5J but it has a joint up towards the bell that I don’t see in pictures of the 5J.

We also played 4 valve Conn sousaphones - both fiberglass and brass - and had 3 valve King sousaphones for home practice horns. In 9th grade we got two new Yamaha YBB-321s and I got one of those instead of this Conn. I remember the case had a pretty interesting smell - probably the glue - and the horn in its case weighed 52 pounds.

TxTx wrote: Sun Jan 04, 2026 7:26 pm Eighth grade me with one of my Jr High School horns around 1982. This was a 4v Bb Conn, I’d been thinking it was a 5J but it has a joint up towards the bell that I don’t see in pictures of the 5J.

Looks like a Reynolds TB-09 (10?) to me, when they shared a lot of parts with Conn.

Here's a photo of me marching in the Tri-State Fair Parade way back in the fall of 1975.

A little late but the family at Tuba Christmas Columbus 2025. It was my daughter's first one, so I played Euphonium 2 doing with her. She says next year she'll pay tuba as well.

Found an old poster from 2011ish for the Los Alamos Hillstompers from our Mardi Gras Pub Crawl.. As we were a "drinking band that sometimes marched" it was s good event. That's me with my Weril 3/4 CC and my wife, in her natural tiger form, on the Holton Eb sousa. My costume was actually from "A night at the opera" themed gig where I was supposed to be the princess Aida.