Gallery: Known Subcontrabass Tubas

 According to my research, there have been at least twelve subcontrabass tubas to grace this planet over the years. They are all impressive, but here is my ranking, by size, of these monsters:

1. Giant Saxhorn Bourdon - Adolphe Sax, 1851

Photo courtesy of AIAS Dinant, family bequest - taken in 1878 or later

• Key: 52 ft Eb
• Valves: 3 piston
• Height: about 10 ft
• Weight: reportedly 298 lbs!
• Bell diameter: 39-40 in
• Fully functional
• Apparently hasn't survived

2. Trombotonar - Gustave-Auguste Besson, 1855

• No known photograph
• Key: 52 ft Eb
• Valves: 3 piston
• Height: about 10 ft
• Weight: unknown
• Bell diameter: 39-40 in
• Fully functional
• Apparently hasn't survived

3. Riesen Kontrabass - Bohland & Fuchs, 1912?

Photo courtesy of Amati-Denak, Kraslice, Czech Republic

• Key: 36 ft Bb
• Valves: 4 rotary (functional, but out of reach!)
• Height: about 8 ft (one report says 7 ft 10.5 in)
• Weight: 125 lbs
• Bell diameter: 45 in
• Fully functional, but requires two people (and note oversized mouthpiece)
• Resides in the Amati-Denak factory, Czech Republic
• Here's a short video of it being played

4. Monster Bb - Henry Distin, 1862

• No known photograph
• Key: 36 ft Bb, although this is just a guess; it's possible this is not a subcontrabass tuba, but the reported height suggests that it might be
• Valves: 3 piston
• Height: reportedly "nearly 8 feet tall"
• Weight: unknown
• Bell diameter: unknown
• Fully functional
• Apparently hasn't survived

5. "Big Carl" - Bohland & Fuchs, 1912

Steve Dillon, Matt Walters, and another Dillon Music worker in 2014 (courtesy of Steve Dillon)

• Key: 36 ft Bb
• Valves: 3 piston, but dummies
• Height: 7 ft 9 in
• Weight: 137 lbs (although not confirmed)
• Bell diameter: 40.5 in
• Not fully functional (essentially a giant bugle)
• Resides at the administrative offices of Carl Fischer in NYC

6. Big Carl's Twin - Bohland & Fuchs, 1912

Photo courtesy of Margaret Banks, National Music Museum - taken in 1942

• Key: 36 ft Bb
• Valves: 3 piston, but dummies
• Height: 7 ft 9 in
• Weight: 137 lbs (although not confirmed)
• Bell diameter: 40.5 in
• Not fully functional (essentially a giant bugle)
• Destroyed to recycle its materials for the war effort in 1942

7. The Harvard Tuba - F. Besson & Co., 1889

Steve Dillon and myself in 2019 at Dillon Music

• Key: 36 ft Bb
• Valves: 3 piston
• Height: 6 ft 11 in
• Weight: 88 lbs
• Bell diameter: 31.5 in
• Fully functional (restored by Dillon Music in 2019)
• Resides in the Harvard Band Room

8. Markneukirchen Riesentuba - (various), 2010

Photo courtesy of Arnold Myers, seen here examining the tuba in 2019

• Key: 36 ft Bb
• Valves: 4 rotary
• Height: 6 ft 9 in
• Weight: 110 lbs
• Bell diameter: 34.6 in
• Fully functional
• Resides in the Musikinstrumenten Museum, Markneukirchen, Germany

9. Horniman Besson - Besson & Co., late 1800s

Photo courtesy of Clifford Bevan, seen here at the Horniman in 2001

• Key: 36 ft Bb
• Valves: 3 piston, but dummies
• Height: 6 ft 5 in
• Weight: 112 lbs
• Bell diameter: 32 in
• Not fully functional (essentially a giant bugle)
• Resides at the Horniman Museum in London

10. Slender Saxhorn Bourdon - Adolphe Sax, 1851

Photo courtesy of the Royal Collection Trust, UK - taken in 1851

• Barely seen in the back left of the display case above (and yes, we can see a somewhat shorter one in the back middle, but I'm pretty sure that's not a subcontrabass)
• Key: 36 ft Bb
• Valves: 3 piston (assumed)
• Height: about 8-9 ft
• Weight: unknown
• Bell diameter: 23 in
• Fully functional
• Apparently hasn't survived

11. Hoffnung Tuba - Rudolph Sander, 1899

Photo from a 1956 newspaper article showing Gerard Hoffnung and his wife

• Key: 32 ft C
• Valves: 3 rotary
• Height: 5 ft 2 in
• Weight: reportedly around 100 lbs
• Bell diameter: 41 in
• Fully functional
• Resides in a private collection in the U.S.

12. Shorter Saxhorn Bourdon - Adolphe Sax, 1855

Photo courtesy of Henri Selmer, Paris

• Key: 26 ft Eb (so technically a contrabass)
• Valves: 3 piston
• Height: about 6 ft
• Weight: unknown
• Bell diameter: 22 in
• Fully functional
• Resides at the Henri Selmer Museum, Paris