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It is now about one year ago since Wessex discontinued our popular Bubbie F/Eb travel tuba - and since then have been busy redesigning, leaning from all the weaknesses of the Mk1 design to make a new much-improved design to be called the 'Bubbie 5' because it now has 5-rotary valves. In fact is a completely new design from the ground up with the name being the only thing the same as original. It has much larger bore to make as free blowing as the BBb Mighty Midget tornister tuba beside which the prototype can be seen below.
Instead of a separate Eb slide, the 5th valve is now a reversible slide much like found on french horns to switch from F to Bb as default and by connecting to the other side it works in Eb with the 5th valve (with one tone slide in place of flat tone slide) then becoming ascending valve. Since the picture was taken of the prototype the 5th valve lever has been moved to be right-hand thumb operated.
When I picked it up and played i was immediately impressed. Not only is it much better than the original Bubbie, it is also much better than the Meinl-Weston Trolley travel tuba (I used to own one). It is surprisingly free blowing, much like with the tornistertuba, intonation is good, the low register including the notorious C/B is easy, while the little tuba has a sweet tone. It would be ideal for playing the Mahler 1 solo.
No details of price, or release date yet, but I can say for certain it will be at the US Army Conference in February to see/try. Two other new Wessex models of tuba of rather larger proportions I also approved this time in China, but of those more later...
Instead of a separate Eb slide, the 5th valve is now a reversible slide much like found on french horns to switch from F to Bb as default and by connecting to the other side it works in Eb with the 5th valve (with one tone slide in place of flat tone slide) then becoming ascending valve. Since the picture was taken of the prototype the 5th valve lever has been moved to be right-hand thumb operated.
When I picked it up and played i was immediately impressed. Not only is it much better than the original Bubbie, it is also much better than the Meinl-Weston Trolley travel tuba (I used to own one). It is surprisingly free blowing, much like with the tornistertuba, intonation is good, the low register including the notorious C/B is easy, while the little tuba has a sweet tone. It would be ideal for playing the Mahler 1 solo.
No details of price, or release date yet, but I can say for certain it will be at the US Army Conference in February to see/try. Two other new Wessex models of tuba of rather larger proportions I also approved this time in China, but of those more later...
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