ca. 1948 VEB Wiener F-Tuba

In 1948 most of Germany lay in ruins.  This Youtube video from the Britsh Pathe channel shows a bit of how Berlin looked at the time.

By 1948, most citizens just wanted to get back to some semblance of normal life, instrument makers included.  To add to the perspective, in 1947 Markneukirchen, then under Soviet control, experienced borderline starvation and a – 20C winter.

Memory of a difficult time.  From the book, ‘Markneukirchener Stadtgeschickte 1933-1948’

Possessing an incredible wealth of knowledge and metalforming technique from their prewar days, the now DDR instrument makers, now under the name “VEB”, rolled up their sleeves and got back to doing what they did best.

not the most pleasant font, but it does get the point across…

Based on the designs of the former Hess (and earlier Alexander) designer Meister Andreas Grönlein drew upon his larger F-Tuba design as the template to create this Wiener F-Tuba.

lovely tuba…Alexander 156 F-Tuba

Based on the Alexander 156 Wiener F-Tuba (or perhaps the other way around), Grönlein’s design was high point of Deutsche F-Tubas until the Symphonie F came along about 15 years later, however even to this day the modern Alexander 157 shares quite a bit of the DNA.

modern Alexander 157 F-Tuba

It’s not yet completely clear for whom this tuba was made, but it bears the marks of an exhibition instrument(Ausstellungsstuck) with its special engraving not to mention being constructed completely of nickelsilver. Yes you heard me, this tuba is 100% nickelsilver/Neusilber.  With its wiener fingering system and lack of carriage rings, this tuba was likely marketed as a top shelf orchestra F-Baßtuba.

For those who are not instrument makers, building any brass instrument in nickelsilver much less a tuba, is not a task for the faint of heart.  Modern makers such as Conn and Holton developed a system for bending their nickelsilver horn bells, but to make tuba bows and crooks all bent in lead is an exercise in patience.  Very often you end up having to repair the bows due to cracking.  Not fun at all…very labor intensive.

oops…

It’s interesting to note, earlier designs of Wiener tubas have the valves 1-3 and 4-6 mounted offset to each other with a long connecting pipe.  Later versions such as the Alex or VEB use a normal inline valve block instead.

everyone of those crooks are bent in lead…I can’t imagine the number of hours it took.

The closer you look, there is even more to see.  This tuba has a lot of eye candy!  The engraving on the valve caps is quite lovely.

When the tuba first arrived to the shop, it was suffering from a few small leaks in the leadpipe, but these issues were quickly found and dealt with.

V.E.B. Klingenthal in Saxon.

The tuba has a lovely open OOO sound.  The nickelsilver doesn’t resonate as easily as brass or goldbrass and does take more effort to get the sound to project.  However it is very difficult to ‘break’ the sound.  I’ve tried a similar tuba but in goldbrass and this one can play much louder with a purer sound.  It does feel similar to its Alexander cousins although intonation is noticeable better than the Alex F. The only thing I would change or modify would be to lengthen the 3rd valve slide to a flat whole step instead of a short whole step, but this is a personal preference.

For those of you curious, there were only 3 of these nickelsilver F tubas ever made and 1 BBb also in nickelsilver.  The BBb apparently went to the USA so if anyone has seen this tuba or perhaps another F tuba like this one, please write me.

 

 

driver’s view

Specifications:

1948 VEB F-Tuba Wiener Model in Nickelsilver

Height: 102cm

Bell diameter: 38cm, triangle seam design

Valves: Wiener configuration 6 valves, 18mm bore

Weight: 6.70kg

ca.1960-70s Amati “Bohland & Fuchs” Kaiser B-Tuba 1657

Ahoy Comrade

On the 11th of June 1960, Czechoslovakia’s government ratified the “Constitution of Czechoslovakia”(Ústava Československé socialistické), changing their name from Czechoslovak Republic to Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, in case it wasn’t clear where their political focus was.  By this time, most of the major Czech brass makers had been disbanded, in some cases exiled, with the remainder assembled under the name “Amati”.  Great names such as Cerveny, Bohland & Fuchs, and Lidl remained, however many great makers and craftsmen were consigned to the history books.

By the 1960s, Amati was ordered (as part of the manufacturing industry) to ramp up production.  Drawing upon a huge catalogue of designs, Amati took the basic bugle design from a Cerveny Kaiser BBb, the architecture from Bohland & Fuchs to create in my opinion, one of the first modern kaiser tubas.

Be careful….if you get any closer, it might bite.

I current have a 1930s Cerveny Kaiser quietly sitting in the corner of my workshop.  It’s slightly smaller in statue than the legendary Cerveny 601 model although it has the same tubing layout, including the vertically orientated main tuning slide. When the Amati came in to my shop for a service, I noticed that although the two kaisers were constructed differently, the dimensions of the tubing was almost identical.  I am quite certain Amati used the older Cerveny tooling to construct this model.  For example, the bells of both horns fit 1:1.  They both share the ubiquitous 21.20mm cylindrical valve bore.  The original long-replaced leadpipe of the Amati is also identical to the Cerveny.

The boat anchor logo is a veiled reference to the tuba’s weight.

Amati’s target market was mostly to military bands especially those in west europe, thus providing the business with a steady stream of income.  After WW2, the name Bohland & Fuchs still inspired memories of the remarkable kaisers of the prewar era.  In using the B&F name and logo, Amati was hoping as a marketing ploy, to reach more customers.  They also did something similar with their saxophone line, using the Keilwerth name, although the original maker had reestablished his factory in Bayern Germany in the late 1940s.  After a lengthy court battle, Keilwerth finally managed to stop Amati from using their name, but at a hefty financial cost.

Interesting mix of 1930s paddles with modern linkage and springs.

Interestingly enough, Amati did borrow a bit of the Bohland & Fuchs design when creating this model.  The valve block design, although sharing the ubiquious Graslitz 21.20mm bore, actually uses the pre WW2 B&F tubing layout including the bracing placement.

I am still wondering which B&F tuba model provided the overall layout with it’s horizontal main tuning slide and compact wrap.  It bears an uncanny resemblance to the kaiser tubas from the Rudolph Meinl firm, who also have their roots in the pre WW2 Gräslitz companies.  There are Bohland and Fuchs catalogues with kaiser tubas sporting horizontal tuning slides, but as of yet I have not seen one live.  There was a 1930s Markneukirchen maker who constructed tubas like the Amati, but I have only seen one example, hardly proving more than a neighborly connection.   I have also seen other Gräslitz makers tubas with this layout, but unfortunately, they were unmarked, as in no company name.

For whatever reasons, Amati decided on this design.  Perhaps it was a way to set the model apart from the still produced Cerveny Kaisers with their vertical tuning slides and taller construction.

Rudolph Meinl owners would feel at home.

The Amati 1697 was produced up till the present as it has become known as the Cerveny CBB 691, and there was also a C-tuba version.  It seems to have been dropped from the website, but I’m sure the tooling is still there should anyone want a modern version.  However, the older pre 1980s versions are made of sterner stuff and sound and “feel” much more present than the later versions.

the modern version…

This particular horn came into my shop a few months back from a professional tubist in Berlin.  His instructions were to get the kaiser ready for the upcoming season.  The original leadpipe had been replaced with a smaller tapered version, and the tuning slide was a bit of a mess.

Curves in all the right places.

After a great deal of patient work, I managed to sort out most of the various issues and was able to give the tuba a decent test.  Most kaiser tubas made before WW2 tend to have a somewhat soft response and unless pushed, have a relatively warm and billowy sound.  This tuba is more like an angry drunkard ready to destroy the bar.  The heavy nickel plating and thicker postwar tubing lets the tuba response quickly like it’s prewar cousins, but with a sonic power in the sound not found before the 1940s.  I am certain with the right mouthpiece, this tuba will either win you accolades from your collegues or cost you your job.  If the later happens to you, please feel free to write me with your asking price….

Specs:

1960s-70s Amati “Bohland & Fuch” B-Tuba Kaiser Modell

4 rotary valves 21,20mm bore

heavy nickel plating, yellow brass construction

bell diameter 50cm

height 104cm