Posted by Dave C on June 23, 2001 at 12:18:45:
Why do I feel like my King recording bell tuba is inferior somehow to an instrument with an upright bell? It has a great sound, plays pretty well in tune, but looks goofy if I turn the bell 90 degrees to point the bell up. It is an Eb tuba, so I soldered an old Conn 12J bell onto another bell ring I had from an old King Eb sousa, which fits. The Conn bell is only 18", as opposed to the 20" of the recording bell. It sounds crappy. Why did I bother? Because I can't bring myself to take this to rehearsal instead of my Willson, which may be too big for the band. Have I been brainwashed by the overwhelming existence of bell-up tubas? Or are there really good reasons why these instruments tend to be considered second-rate, or only "good for Dixieland" ?