Hello all,
I just recently acquired an old Wurlitzer Eb tuba(s/n P28717) and don't know much about it- or about Eb horns in general, for that matter. I was looking to see if there is anyone out there who might have some info/history about these horns... I've searched high and low for info on the Internet, but haven't found anything(i.e. when it was made, Wurlitzer band instrument history, etc).
The horn is much smaller than my BBb tuba, but a little bigger than my Euphonium. It has three upright piston valves and it's main tuning slide is located between the leadpipe and the first valve. Engraved on the bell is, "Professional Wurlitzer U.S.A.". And I'm not sure if this is typical of Eb tubas, but it uses a mouthpiece closer in size to a large shank Euphonium/bass trombone mouthpiece than a "traditional" tuba mouthpiece.
Any ideas or info would be greatly appreciated!
Nelson

I cannot speak for your Eb in particular but do know the history of Eb tuba in general. The Eb was popular at the turn of the century into the ragtime era. The key of Eb is higher than that of the BBb and CC, thus being a smaller horn and different fingerings as it is also transposed. Eb tubas can be a little tough to find music to practice with and i have only found on book to work with for mine that book is Foundation to Tuba and Sousaphone Playing by William Bell, it has helped me quite a bit for transposing music from the other two keys into Eb for that horn. I chose to use a Bass trombone mouthpiece for mine but have heard of some professional tuba players using european size mouthpeices since they have a few smaller sizes the the standard US sizes. Sorry I could not be of more help