Posted by Bill Schultz on August 30, 2001 at 08:52:04:
I have a 1976 B + H Imperial four-valve EEb tuba. I remember reading that the 3-valve is a fully compensating instrument while the four-valve is not compensating unless the fourth valve is used. Is this true? If so, was this fact changed on the Sovereign models, which are advertised as "fully compensating"? It seems to me that the use of the fourth valve always improves the intonation, but I was surprised because I thought that the intonation would be the same when using the valve combinations without the fourth valve. Thanks.