Originally Posted by
John Morgan
Do you have one of the older models with a 15" or 17" bell? I think the Eb and Bb Imperials had 15" and 17" bells before going to 19" late in their production (before the Sovereign). If you have one of the older models, this might account for the smaller sound.
I have an Eb tuba with a 15" bell. It is nice for chamber work, brass quintet, etc., but not big enough for a full sized concert band or orchestra. I mean I could play it in a band, it just wouldn't have the gravitas needed to really fill out the band.
Maybe to some degree, but I don't think that's the real issue.
A lot of the classic German/Czech tubas have 15"-ish bells and have no problem projecting their sound (true for both BBb and Eb). The bell on my Cerveny 781 was 15.7" and had no problem supporting a full concert band. Likewise, the Norwegian Star Eb has a 15.7" bell (but a .772-.835" bore !!). I think the sound projection feature is much more closely related to bore size (and perhaps bugle taper) than to bell size. I'm sure the bore of that B&H tuba is < .69", and perhaps significantly less. My Wessex Champion (981 clone) has a .69" bore and a 19" bell, and if it's the ONLY tuba in a fairly large band ( > 45 players), can be at or beyond its limit.
When I decided to (after 20 years) go back to an Eb horn from the BBb, and was looking at the cost/performance trade-offs for playing in a band, one of my concerns was how well the horn would be able to support a band. I decided to go with the 981 clone because I REALLY like the Eb horns, I like the comp horn, and I didn't have the $$$$ to spend on a 4/5-valve German/Czech style non-comp horn, and it was likely that I would only infrequently be the only tuba in the band. My only regret is getting the 19" bell. I'm not at all convinced that it adds much in terms of sound projection capability (I suspect it just affects the timbre more than anything else), and the 15" bell would be a lot easier to haul around. But none of these can compare to the incredible "surround sound" that Cerveny produced.
If you want better sound projection, dump the comp Brit horn and get a German/Czech non-comp tuba.
Gary Merrill
Wessex EEb Bass tuba (DW 3XL or 2XL)
Mack Brass Compensating Euph (DE N106, Euph J, J9 euph)
Amati Oval Euph (DE 104, Euph J, J6 euph)
1924 Buescher 3-valve Eb tuba (with std US receiver), Kelly 25
Schiller American Heritage 7B clone bass trombone (DE LB K/K10/112/14 Lexan, Brass Ark MV50R)
1947 Olds "Standard" trombone (Olds #3)