Un-marked Tuba identification

[Dan Schultz]

These tubas have been long overlooked. They were also brought into the US under the names of Gerhart Schneider, Carl Wunderlich, as well as Sonora. I had a Carl Wunderlich and sold it a couple of months ago. It is a VERY good playing horn. There is some disagreement as to who actually manufactured these horns. I say they were made in the B & S factory. Others maintain that they were made by Amati/Cerveny. I still hold that they were made by B & S... probably in the 70's. Many of them had 'GDR' stamped on the receiver. (stands for German Democratic Republic).

Ed Stregge (mrstregs) has one running on Ebay at the moment.

[cjk]

Others maintain that they were made by Amati/Cerveny. I still hold that they were made by B & S...

Anybody that maintains that they were made by Cerveny is flat out wrong.


However, there WERE Cerveny-made Karl Zeiss (sp?) tubas and B&S-made Karl Zeiss tubas.

[Dan Schultz]

Others maintain that they were made by Amati/Cerveny. I still hold that they were made by B & S...

Anybody that maintains that they were made by Cerveny is flat out wrong.


However, there WERE Cerveny-made Karl Zeiss (sp?) tubas and B&S-made Karl Zeiss tubas.

You are correct. I just don't like to tell anyone that they are dead wrong. I was wrong once! ... took me 27 years to get rid of her

The give-away on this particular horn are the backing plates on the attachment loops and lyre holder. They are the same configuration as are used on current B & S tubas.

[Tom]

...perhaps i have the Alexander that the East German tuba's were based on...

Although the wrap is very similar, the tuba pictured is not an actual Alexander. Alexander tubas typically have many distinctive markings, and I'm not aware of Gebr. Alexander ever building stencil instruments for anyone. I just don't believe they would have had the capacity to do so, but someone please correct me if I am wrong, as I'd love to hear about them.

As the other posters have indicated, you have a B&S stencil (even if unmarked) of some kind that likely dates from the 60s or 70s and was made in what would have then been East Germany.

B&S produced tubas sold under many different labels during that period, including some really nice 4 rotor tubas under their Weltklang "economy" or "student line" house brand. Gerhardt Schneider, Carl Wunderlich, Sonora, Accent brands are common B&S stencils seen in the U.S. In fact, B&S stencil Gerhardt Schneider tubas are still available. The same tuba is also available as the B&S PT-1. B&S (at least in recent years) has been a part of Gerhardt Meinl's JA Musik conglomerate which also includes VMI and Meinl Weston. F. Schmidt, the house brand of the now defunt Brook Mays Co., was a VMI stencil.

Cerveny is a Czech firm that also produced many stenciled tubas during about the same time period. They carried such names as Walter Sear and Karl Zeiss, although I've personally seen several Zeiss tubas that indicate they are more likely of B&S origin.

Importers and wholesalers often came up with the house brand names and had them made up by whatever company would cut them the best deal. This meant that over a decade or two, a horn with the same name could have been made by two or three different manufacturers.

[Søren]

I have a B&S tuba like this, and I love it. I use it as my contrabass tuba for classical music. It is the best I have owned so far.

As to the similarity of the Alexander tubas, you are right. I made a topic concerning that since I have owned both.

viewtopic.php?t=18220&highlight=

They are surely not made by the same manufacturer, but look extremely similar

[tuba72]

After looking over the pictures of the horn I see the attachment points(including the thumb ring) are exactly the same as the ones I have on my Carl W. that I bought from Dan. The horn plays beautifully and I hardly ever have to move the tuning slides. It was definitly worth the trip I made to get it last year. I have had lots of compliments on it in the bands I play with hear in frigid Nebraska.

Gary
Happy Carl Owner

[Dan Schultz]

After looking over the pictures of the horn I see the attachment points(including the thumb ring) are exactly the same as the ones I have on my Carl W. that I bought from Dan. The horn plays beautifully and I hardly ever have to move the tuning slides. It was definitly worth the trip I made to get it last year. I have had lots of compliments on it in the bands I play with hear in frigid Nebraska.

Gary
Happy Carl Owner

Glad you and 'Carl' are getting along well together. Happy tuba-ing!