Holton Del Negro tuba

[Daniel C. Oberloh]

I was fortunate enough yesterday to acquire this rather nifty antique to add to my collection. The party I purchased it from had saved it (and a number of other neat old band instruments) from going to the dump. He was not a player and knew nothing except that they were worth something. He contacted me a few weeks back and asked if I would take a look and see what I thought. Yesterday he brought the smelly mess in. The collection was interesting but the tuba is what really caught my eye and was the sole reason I purchased the whole lot. Paul and I spent the day removing the stuck slides and valves from the tuba and cleaning the stink out of the rest of the keepers. Today I repaired the damaged forth piston and reassembled it well enough to put it on display until I can find the time to restore it. Its missing a few water keys and the mouth-pipe is split but overall its in very good original condition for its age.





I am pretty sure the tuba is a Del Negro model Holton made in 1914, this one is in BBb and is the only one I have ever seen first hand. Mark Jones posted an image from a 1920s Holton catalog showing an image of D.N. himself seated with what may have been a CC model. I knew it was a special horn when I saw it but could not pin it down until going into my own catalog collection and seeing that same image. I have not been able to find a detailed pic anywhere that provided a decent view of this elusive creature so I thought it would be worth while to post a couple for all to view.

Best regards,

Daniel C. Oberloh
Oberloh Woodwind and Brass Works
Seattle, WA
206.241.5767
http://www.oberloh.com" target="_blank"

[bisontuba]

Dan-
Terrific find--what a wild wrap on that tuba.
Regards-
mark
jonestuba@Juno.com" target="_blank

[jonesbrass]

Neat. What are the overall dimensions? Bell, bore, height, etc.

That is surely a one-of-a-kind wrap, too!

[imperialbari]

Negro3v.jpg

Does the narrow slide next to the leadpipe belong to the 3rd valve tubing?

Klaus

[Art Hovey]

I remember when Eli first obtained his; he bought it from Walter Sear, who had another one as his own personal tuba. Eli used it in a 1964 New Haven Symphony performance of the Rite of Spring; I was there on second tuba. I often wondered if DelNegro intended that third-valve slide just above the thumb ring to be available for slide-pulling on the fly. A different pull ring would have made it easy.
Eli eventually found a BBb version and bought it, and had it cut down to CC. It had a detachable bell.

[imperialbari]

A quick check of the alternate fingerings revealed some issues. For example, the 1-2 to 3 alternate was WAY off.

The photo hints towards the reason why this fingering alternative is way off. The 3rd valve tubing cannot be visually compared directly with more standard wraps, but to me it appears being very long. It might be a valve lowering the main bugle with two full steps.

Klaus

[bisontuba]

*

[imperialbari]

The wrap is the same, but the outer branches/bows on the old photo look fatter in my eye.

K

[Art Hovey]

The wrap is the same, but the outer branches/bows on the old photo look fatter in my eye.
K

-So do the faces. That photo has been stretched horizontally.