TubaForum.net

I have always been inclined to look for simple solutions... In my very short career as an E flat tubist, I have attained no ambitions for playing anything lower than an A flat (1+4 on a compensated horn), but simultaneously I am not too keen on the stuffy feeling of a compensated horn. That made me wonder: is top action C tubas a thing?

To my surprise, the answer is "yes, actually". Turns out Weril in Brasil has made this, in various sizes:
https://www.camarainstrumentos.com.br/ ... C%7CWERIL (at the time of writing this search returns 3 top action tubas in C)

So, why on earth would I be interested in a contraption like this, you wonder?

Pros:
I can read C tuba in bass clef easily. B flat tuba in bass clef not so much...
It gives me access to register as low as I can go.
Would not be too heavy, which is important (the tuba would mainly be used for marching).
Top action gives familiarity with what I am used to.
No stuffiness from compensation.

On the other hand, I would suspect severe intonation struggles (again, they are non-compensated 3-valve instruments), especially as most music would end up in keys with lots of flats.

Has any other makers manufactured anything similar?

Wessex makes pretty much identical 3-valve tubas in CC (not on their site), cuz students in Spain apparently start on CC.

Three guesses how I know Wessex makes these.

1. You own one?
2. You are Spanish?
3. None of the above?

What did I win?

After more googling I've also read that there exists a small number of custom-made Besson 3-valve compensating C-tubas, but so far I have not come over any photographic evidence. But I would certainly liked to try one!

Besson made a handful of Besson 3+1 CC tubas. I'd guess less than 10?
At one time, I knew of two upright Besson 3 valve compensating CC tubas.
One of the 3+1 ones is briefly covered in either 'The The Tuba Family' by Clifford Bevan or 'A Treatise on the TUBA' by Donald Stauffer. I don't remember which off the top of my head.