Posted by Chuck Jackson on March 30, 2001 at 20:17:26:
In Reply to: Carbon fiber in tubas posted by GC on March 30, 2001 at 11:03:23:
George McCracken or Williamsburg, VA has been doing quite a bit of Carbon Fiber work on tuba bells. I know that Andy Kockenauer of the DPT uses one as does Chuck Dallenbach. I tried a MW Standard Model CC about 8 years ago that was owned by a tuba player from Hampton, VA. It had a Carbon Fiber bell, was very light and sounded like a tuba. The "stealth" bell didn't detract from the sound and made the instrument much easier to handle. As for the other parts, I have nary a clue, but someone may be able to elucidate on this topic. I have reservations about valves made of this material. It would seem hard to make solid cylinders and then cut the ports, but I am not an engineer and my thoughts are pure speculation. Hope this helped.
Chuck