New blood, Part 1 (Besson 983)

[humBell]

Amado water keys?

x2

No thumb ring either... Was it removed, or do none of these have thumb rings?

Them's the little cylinder water keys with the button on the end? I see 3 in the picture... (3rd circuit, 4th circuit, and mts)

[GC]

The earlier ones had thumb rings that were attached to a clamp that fit on one of the first valve tubes. Clamp too tight, and the slide was immovable. Current pictures don't show a thumb ring, and I believe they gave up putting them on years ago. The current Besson tuba web page doesn't show the 983 at all.

[bort2.0]

Amado water keys?

x2

No thumb ring either... Was it removed, or do none of these have thumb rings?

Them's the little cylinder water keys with the button on the end? I see 3 in the picture... (3rd circuit, 4th circuit, and mts)

Did I mention that I just got this? But yes, those are ethe Amado keys. This will be my first go-round with these. No real opinion on them, but I do like avoiding pulling slides to dump, and sure like avoiding spinning.

There's another water key on the lower part of the top-facing 1st valve slide, but it's a regular water key. Pretty good idea.

I also think I need to learn how the compensating system works. I was running my mouth and checking out other cute tubas when they taught this in tuba school.

[humBell]

Sorry. I just looked at the picture and spotted it. Please don't tell the conductor i can count!

As regards compensating system, just spend a quality minute tracing out the path. It is fun, and may slightly challenge spatial reasoning skills, particularly inferring which ports the pistons connect to make it work both down and up.

Typically the longest valve circuit passes back through the other pistons again so it adds a little more if they are down.

Are there tuning slides on any of the compensating loops?

On 3+1 top action, the longest may have a slide, and i fondly recall reading old bloke posts where he advocated using another 2nd valve slide there to make it compensate better.

That may not be an issue with the front action?

[greenbean]

Amado water keys?

x2

x3, you mean!

Edit: Never mind...

[greenbean]

Double post.

stupid, stupid, stupid...

[tofu]

.

[bort2.0]

But yes, those are ethe Amado keys. This will be my first go-round with these. No real opinion on them, but I do like avoiding pulling slides to dump, and sure like avoiding spinning.

People want to be entertained. Tubists who can spin & twirl their tuba are entertainers - easily setting themselves apart from the mere tuba operators.

For some reason, this reminds me of Monty Python's "How to Play the Piano"

[humBell]

Double post.

stupid, stupid, stupid...

I always liked doublemint...

True, it is no big red, but it still tastes fine.

[YorkNumber3.0]

.

[humBell]

No thumb ring either... Was it removed, or do none of these have thumb rings?

They came with a removable/adjustable thumb ring that clamped on with a thumb screw.

That actually sounds like an interesting stand alone accessory to provide...

@YorkNumber3, seeing the drop down mention provided had only 3 autocompletes starting with York, I assume that is the significance of the number 3? And i'd happily listen to any cool story to the contrary (or even confirming this)

Speaking of serial numbers earlier in this thread, i tracked down the York list https://www.horn-u-copia.net/Docs/York%20db.html to see if there was something with that serial number. Seems we'd be doing well to have a York with a 3 digit serial number even back in 1935 let alone now (note to self... @humBell continue this line of thought when ya done inventoried your closet(s) in the abstract sense...) Having the York with a serial number of 3 would be downright legendary! And what would the odds be it were a tuba?!

[YorkNumber3.0]

.

[Doc]

NICE SURPRISE!

And when the other shoe drops, folks will be equally surprised.

Dibs on the 983!

[gnimoyw]

Here’s a few pics of the thumb ring on mine.

654A0EBA-3922-4D9A-A62F-9B763E33AB2A.jpeg (32.35 KiB) Viewed 951 times

[bort2.0]

Thanks! That's really interesting, I've never seen something like that before. Any idea where I could order one?

Also, any idea when they changed the style of braces that connect the valve block to the bell? In your photo, they are straight metal rods. On mine they are saddle shaped.

[Bob Kolada]

Congrats! Now you need an Eb cimbasso to play in trombone choir.

[York-aholic]

Dibs on the 983!

[hrender]

It's not OEM, but this thumb ring looks like it would work: https://www.ebay.com/itm/274966666438. It looks like it would polish up decently. Option B would be to get someone to craft something for you. See: viewtopic.php?p=15410#p15410

[hup_d_dup]

Are there tuning slides on any of the compensating loops?

The 3rd valve has a tuning slide on the compensating side.

However, tuning on any of the valves on the compensating side can be adjusted by either of the two tuning slides in the compensating loop (the 4th valve loop). This would most likely be done with a set adjustment on the lower slide and on-the-fly adjustments on the top slide.

Hup

[bloke]

elegant...
' chopped off the top of an old Herco...??

It's not OEM, but this thumb ring looks like it would work: https://www.ebay.com/itm/274966666438. It looks like it would polish up decently. Option B would be to get someone to craft something for you. See: viewtopic.php?p=15410#p15410