Posted by Philip Jensen on July 17, 2003 at 10:05:50:
I recently did some realigning on my old upright valved Eb tuba to give a more comfortable hand position and to straighten the path of the lead pipe into the valve cluster. This entailed removing a LOT of braces so we could rotate the whole valve cluster relative to the bell. I'm pleased with the results - it's more comfortable to play and removing the sharpish angle where the leadpipe enters the cluster (the result of older repair work) has made it freer blowing. Now I've got about 6 extra braces and I'm trying to decide, do I leave them off, or put them back? How does the degree of bracing reflect resonance? I'm not too worried about damage to the horn with its current minimalist bracing. This horn had a lot of bracing and was a tank, albiet a 3/4 one.
Thanks you for your recomendations
Philip Jensen