Wessex Tubas

Halcyon Helicon days return

Wessex Tubas has delved into the 19th Century to introduce the modern-day helicon tuba to save bass players from back-pain and make standing gigs so much more pleasurable...

During the 19th Century, there was a great deal of experiment with different designs for brass instruments and the Helicon became established as the best format for tubas or basses for marching and standing gigs.

This was a circular bass that rests on the player’s shoulders, and was used by military and brass bands around the World. It’s easy to see why - the helicon was effortless to carry, and so much easier on the back and spine than a tuba strapped in front of player. It was also much better balanced for carrying and lighter than the later sousaphone.

For reasons that seem to have been dictated by fashion, the Helicon largely ceased to be manufactured after the First World War, except for a few rotary valve versions in Eastern Europe.

Now, after nearly a century’s gap, Wessex Tubas is putting the Helicon back into production in both Eb and BBb models, available from this summer. These new Helicons are not, however, simply reproductions of old designs, but modern incarnations that harness the improvements later applied to the Sousaphone design. They are fitted with four piston valves and, unlike period helicons, have a removable bell so that they are more compact for transporting in modern cars. Gig bags will also be available to carry.

Jonathan Hodgetts, MD of Wessex Tubas, has been ‘road-testing’ the prototype Helicon for the last year and reported to BBW: “When I first tried the Helicon, I could not believe how much better it played than an equivalent Sousaphone. Intonation is secure, the low register open and, in comparison, it even projects more clearly. In fact although it is manufactured in a circular format, it plays just like a good modern tuba. Carrying it is so easy too, because the weight is directly over the spine and has a much lower centre of gravity than a Sousaphone, so there is no ‘pendulum swinging’ when marching. I even carried it six miles one day without any stress.”

www.wessex-tubas.com