ca.1984 Hirsbrunner F-Tuba Model 288

One of the prettiest F-Tuba ever made.

Now dear reader, we turn our attention away from Markneukirchen and look towards Sumiswald, Switzerland.  Although the company Hirsbrunner no longer exists, many of their beautiful instruments are still going strong, including this F-Tuba made in 1984, which is considered by many Hirsbrunner fans to be the golden era of their multi-generational workshop.  A colleague of mine has one of the first generation 4/4 CC-Tubas and to this day, I have rarely played another CC that good(although my own personal HB-21 was frankly a huge disappointment)

Simple but elegant engraving.  

Hirsbrunners have always been expensive instruments and with good reason.  If you are so inclined to disassemble yours, you would find the quality of the work speaks for itself.  Build quality not obvious even to the musician, but seen by the instrument maker is striking. Most of the joints are fit without gaps and are pre-tinned.  Braces are precisely fit with just the right amount of play.  The bell is a one piece design, but with a beautifully seamed gusset design.

Excellent slide layout.  One can manipulate most slides with little fuss.

Hirsbrunner had two F-Tuba designs, this smaller 288 and a larger 289 model.  Both could be had with piston valves as well, models 388 and 389 respectively.  The Eb tubas also share many of the same components.  My theory is that most of Hirsbrunner’s orders were for the Swiss military bands consisting of BBb and Eb tubas.  The orchestra 4/4 CC and F tubas seem very much like shortened versions of their sister models…
Again, I don’t know the origin of Hirsbrunner’s F-Tuba designs, but central and south europeans tended to play on smaller equipment although that has since changed.  Austrians with their Wiener designs and many of the northern Italian brass makers offered compact F-Tubas similar to the HB.  In fact until the B&S Symphone arrived in the mid 60s and started the oversize F-Tuba arms race, this HB would have been considered a large F-Tuba!  When you set it next to a modern Melton or Miraphone, it feels like a large euphonium, although I think its almost the same size as a Miraphone Firebird.

Super fast chunky paddles with Meinlschmidt 18.50mm bore valves

First impressions were exciting, as I opened the old original case with its blue velvet plush.  It looks and feels expensive…although a small F-Tuba, its very heavy for its size.  Right at 8kg like a B&S Symphonie, which is considerably larger.  Unlike the vast majority of smaller F-Tubas, it actually has a euro shank sized receiver.  The paddles fit my hand exactly, and after years of playing an F-Tuba with a lefthanded 5th valve, it was such a pleasure to have the fifth under my right thumb, not to mention the chonky thumb ring.

A thumb throne, not a ring…

A deep breath, blow and oh man, this thing plays like shit.  I was disappointed to put it mildly.  Ok, first things first, leakdown test and valve alignment done.  Issues sorted, lets try this again.  Einwandfrei! An excellent tuba by any standard.  Very different to my preferred Symphonie.  Where as the old Symphonie works so well because of its flexibility, the HB also works well, but by means of its weight.  The sound is deeper and darker than any small F-Tuba has a right to be.  Although not so mouthpiece sensitive, I found an old 1960s Conn Helleberg and a Bach 7 to work best for me.  Most of the modern “F-Tuba” pieces lost projection and gave more “buzz” than sound.

One piece design, but with a pie wedge gusset

As previously mentioned, the playing characteristics are quite far from my Symphonie F.  Noticeably the Hirsbrunner had a high 3rd partial and the 5th valve is tuned too low for me.  I spend a bit of time adjusting the slide lengths and tinkering with the gap and other setup issues.  After practicing on the tuba for a few weeks, the 3rd partial is now fine without bending.  We often forget how much we learn to compensate on our “home” instruments…again, I am impressed by the “weight” of the sound.  One of the reasons I became drawn to older instruments is by their unique character.  I recently visited a large brass showroom and tried a number of new tubas.  Although most of them were fine instruments, the vast majority felt quite similar to me, regardless of the name on the bell.  On the otherhand, I’ve played a number of old tubas that had enough “character” to the point of being unusable….

Notice the double bracing between the valves and body.

It is somewhat sad to note, since the closing of the company, there isn’t really another manufacture currently making instruments like this.  In many ways the playbility and accessibility of modern tubas has made leaps and bounds.  A modern F-Tuba is easier to play than this tuba and there are good options that cost far less than this tuba as well yet none of them seem sound quite like this.  One wonders what the future holds?

Flawless bending.

Specs: ca.1984 Hirsbrunner F-Tuba Model 288

Bell diameter: 38cm

Body yellow brass with brass braces and nickelsilver slide outers and valve casings

Valves: 5 rotary valves (Meinlschmidt)

Height: 88cm high

Weight: 8kg

 

ca. 1984 B&S BBb Model 102 Symphonie

A money no object custom BBb…

Many years ago, an old friend walked into my shop.  One of our colleagues was retiring after over 30 years working in his orchestra and he wanted to sell his BBb. A bit of discussion and suddenly like that, I was the owner of a nice Model 102 B&S BBb Tuba.
Once the tuba arrived, I quickly realized things were not as they seemed.  I was expecting a Model 102, the 4/4 BBb that was the replacement for the B&S 101.  For those who don’t know this model, it’s sort of the East German version of a King 1241/Miraphone 186-188.  A do it all-purpose tuba at home in a variety of uses from Blasmusik to Symphony Orchestra.  I personally prefer a 5-6/4 BBb but there are moments a 4/4 BBb fits the bill better.  As the old colleague said, a tank is fun to drive, but it is hard to park in the garage.

Not the prettiest engraving…

Although the vast majority of B&Ss Tuba production were standard models such as the 101-102 series BBb tubas (in East Germany, couldn’t throw a rock without hitting one…) and the Symphonie F tubas, there were the occasional custom orders.  Specially ordered BBbs or CCs were often engraved as “Symphonie” models like the orchestra F-Tubas.  Very few were made, perhaps less than 20 BBbs in total.  Most of them are individual one offs depending on what the owner or shop ordered.

Conical 5 valve block

This particular tuba has a fully conical 5 valve block with a 18 to 21mm bore increase.  This was more commonly found on the Symphonie F-Tubas.  There were 2 BBbs build with 6 valves, but I find 5 is more than enough! The valve linkage was the new uniball system which was a huge leap forward compared to the old heavy S-links.  You can’t see it in the photos so well, but the angle of the paddle assembly is set up for fast playing.  About 1cm paddle travel to completely depress the lever without being overtly heavy.

Everything is a bit of a tight squeeze but it works just fine.

The bracing is the same 2D stamped sheet for most B&S tubas of the 1980s.  They are considerably weaker than the half-round stock of the 1970s, but on this particular horn, they seem to be holding up find.   Many of the valve crooks were bent in lead rather than the hydraulics which had taken over most of the standard production.

One piece bell with kranz yes please.

After trying the tuba initially, it was clear the sound was darker and had more “core” and clarity than the standard 1980s 102s.  Closer observation revealed the bell to be only 40cm (rather than 42cm standard) and is made in a one-piece construction design which by the 1980s was no longer used for most of their tubas.

More pull please…

All is not roses and wine however…while the tuba plays great and I am generally quite happy with it as is, one of the real weaknesses of the redesigned 102s is the lack of pull on the 4th slide.  Having a 5th valve helps reduce the necessity, however there are times when you really need to pull the 4th way out, and considering, halfway out is already an intune low F….
Other quibbles…I’ve gotten used to having a 5th valve in my left hand, although I must say, it definitely is more efficient using a thumb actuated right hand trigger.  Finally, the previous owner was much larger than me as in almost a foot taller. The leadpipe position is smack dab in the middle of my head.  Sitting the bottom bow on a stool seems good enough though.

Ferrels made from sheet nickelsilver

As you might have noticed, there are many dents, scratches and the original lacquer has aged like some fine wallpaper your grandmother might have used…

In the end, I like it.  It has history, it has character and in a testament to the old B&S craftsmen, it works flawlessly.  None of the dents affect the sound and it’s ugly enough that most of my friends wont think to ask to borrow it;).  I do have some extreme modification ideas, but luckily I have another 102 body sitting in the corner for another day…

Aged like a nice cheese…

Specs:
ca.1984 B&S BBb Tuba Modell 102 (basis) custom

Bell diameter 40cm, 1 piece construction with nickelsilver kranz

Body material: yellow brass with nickelsilver ferrels

Valves: 5 rotary valves fully conical from 18mm to 21mm

Height 104cm

 

 

Weltklang/B&S Eb Tuba Model 92G

A well played, but much loved Eb tuba

Hello dear reader, at the moment, most of us are at home in self imposed quarantine.  I can only hope all of you and your families are doing well.  As I seem to have more free time in the upcoming weeks, I will take that as a chance to catch up on blog posts among other things.

driver’s view.  

If you have followed this blog till now, you already know the history of how B&S came to be and perhaps a bit of the history behind their early models.  Not to sound like a broken record, but for everyone else as the factory got its start in the early 1950s, they adopted several designs from the previous workshop, the factory Hess.  Among those early models were a number of F and Eb (Es auf Deutsch) tubas all based off of a similar body design.  If one would trace the history of these horns back far enough, they have similar roots to early 20th century Alexander F/Eb tubas, especially the model 154 etc.  This was because in 1935, an instrument maker/engineer at Alexander moved to the factory Hess bringing many of their designs with him, and so on and so on.

Weltklang-one of the many export names for B&S

For some reason, not completely clear to me, B&S decided it needed another name for its export products and decided on “Weltklang”.  I suppose in terms of trademarks that Weltklang (Sound of the World) was so vague as to not infringe on any other companies…if someone has more information on this, please let us know.  B&S tubas could be ordered by any musicshop with their own engraving as well.  For example in the USA, there were at least 15 different names that come up….

Compared to its cheaper versions, this Model 92 has generous amounts of nickelsilver.

There is a great deal of speculation whether Weltklang and B&S instruments differ, with some people saying Weltklang was the cheaper version and that it was built by less skilled workers using cheaper materials.  Having spoken with former B&S workers who were there in the 1970s, here is what I can tell you.
1. The quality of work was identical regardless of whether it had B&S or Weltklang engraved on the bell. In fact, often until it was engraved, it could have been either or…What many people don’t realize, building tubas was and is not a great place to “learn”.  A small mistake can ruin an entire instrument assembly therefore most apprentices spent some time in the highbrass department and under a very watchful eye before making their way to tubas and other low brass.

2. Some Weltklang instruments do have some money saving features.  Often the valve casings were brass instead of nickelsilver.  Also they will also have ferrels made from sheet nickelsilver rather than the 3D versions on the B&S.  However there are B&S tubas with sheet ferrels and Weltklang tubas with 3D ferrels such as our featured tuba…so take what is on the bell with a grain of salt.

Ferrels in 3D nickelsilver, says Weltklang on the bell.  Seems legit.

Our featured tuba was built in 1970 as a set of 6 instruments.  It differs from the vast majority in that it has 4 valves, a body made of goldbrass and lots of nickelsilver trim, braces and valve casings.  This is the only one I have ever seen till now in this format.
Most of them have yellow brass bodies with only 3 valves.  It was ordered and sent to a military windband where it was used in a professional capacity until it was retired in 1990. Shortly before being decommissioned it was overhauled and lacquered and then found its way into loving hands where it has been put to good use ever since.

Leadpipe was cut to make dedenting easier…no cookie for you sir!

I would like to take a moment to reach out to my colleagues here.  Sadly one often sees overhauled tubas where the leadpipe and 4th valve tubing were cut to facilitate access for dent removal.  This is almost never necessary and it looks terrible, so please, stop doing this.  I have never had to cut one and neither do you.  In acoustically sensitive areas like a leadpipe, it makes even less sense.

And if you are going to cut, at least do it on the centerline so it’s less obvious.

In terms of playing characteristics, this is really quite a nice tuba.  It has a very even response throughout its range and the intonation is excellent.  The low range is great, especially the low Bb which jumps out faster than I would have imagined.  The goldbrass body keeps the sound nice, even when you really step on it.  If you were to compare to the various mass produced rotary Ebs available in the 70s such as the Miraphone 183 or the Cerveny 651, the Weltklang is far and away the superior instrument.  Only when you compare to other 1970s higher end rotary Eb tubas like the Alexander 154, Rudolph Meinl Eb, or Hirsbrunner Eb then you start to be a bit more critical.  The Alexander is a larger tuba and does put out more sound. The more modern Rudolph Meinl and Hirsbrunner both could be had with 5 valves and larger bores although adding a 5th valve to the Weltklang is not a difficult project.  Considering the price difference, I still might take the Weltklang…

The receiver was shortened to bring up the pitch and to allow a standard mouthpiece shaft.

As the 1970s moved on, it became apparent that the older BBb/Eb/F tubas from B&S were becoming old fashioned and as such were redesigned.  The basic conus was retained, but the various bows were rebent to reduce the overall height, moving away from the stovepipe look.  The valve block was redesigned with 90 degree ports replacing 45 degree 1st and 4th valve porting.  Many of the crooks were no longer bent by hand, rather in a ballout die.  In addition, the bells were then made in two pieces, regardless of a kranz or not was fitted.  While the manufacturing costs were reduced and the new versions looked more modern, some of the original character and “weight” in the sound was lost although the quality stayed.  Sometimes newer is not always better…

Nickelsilver valve casing with 18mm valve cores.

Specs:

ca. 1970 Weltklang Eb Basstuba

Bell diameter 38cm

4 rotary valves 18mm bore

92cm high

7.20kg

sleepy tiger