Posted by henry on October 23, 2003 at 12:25:33:
Old postings are rife with assorted schemes to create secure tuba transport devices. The sheer size and weight of most tubas appears to create a near insurmountable problem. Why not revert to the old removable bell plan? Yeah, yeah- a major pain to make the fitted collars ETC to avoid untoward leaking/buzzing but not exactly a new thought. The vast majority of tubas wind up with a soldered connection twixt bell and body anyway. The body of even a huge tuba is readily, securely, caseable if there's no bell/ upper spout. The bell itself would be a piece of cake to case; without the weight of the rest of the instrument you'd have only minor inertial forces at work and you'd only worry about exterior denting through the case walls. Either piece would fit in my car.....
Child's play to accomplish.
Me- I figure on a tenth cup of coffee and a quick perusal of military surplus to see if there are any cheap surplus tanks I can use to stuff my horn in......