Horns you regret selling

[Chriss2760]

A Holton TR-181 bass 'bone.
I think the school that owned it regrets my selling too. My bad.

[cjk]

A Holton TR-181 bass 'bone.
I think the school that owned it regrets my selling too. My bad.

Sure you're not in Leavenworth, Kansas??

[Ken Herrick]

My 7 valve Alex F which I took as a trade for my 5 V ALex F. Actually didn't sell it - had to use it as collateral for a loan to pay a couple weeks rent. By the time I got the $150 to get it back it had been sold.

By the way, I'll bet it was sold for more than that. (That for those who have been criticising somebody for trying to make a profit on his Kurath.)

Jake always told me I should aim to make a profit when buying/selling! (One of those little "whole of life lessons" teachers sometimes offer.

[Wyvern]

A surprising one from me seeing how many good tubas have passed through my hands over the last few years, but the only one I miss is the old B&S PT-3 CC which I replaced with larger PT-20 last year. The latter is a very good tuba, but is so much heavier to carry and I am not sure with 19" bell projects so well outside? Alas, a bit like buying a new car, then wondering if one should have kept the old one

Jonathan "who with wedding next month is not likely to make any further tuba purchases for the foreseeable future"

[Tom]

I haven't had a lot of tubas, but I really regret selling my great Canadian Brass (Getzen) CB-50. Like some of the other folks that have posted in this thread, I still know the serial number by heart: CB50-30068.

I actually traded it to Dave Fedderly as partial payment for a MW 2000 that I no longer have.

It was a great tuba and ended up being one of the tubas Dave kept and played in the Baltimore Symphony for a time. When he called to thank me for my business, he ended up thanking me for sending my CB-50 to him (maybe that was a hint that I should have kept it).

I'm not sure if he still has it or not, but suspect it has been sold.

[bigboymusic]

A couple. Like DP, I too had one of the solid nickel 163's. When I owned it, I did not like it as much as the raw brass one I owned before, but within a week of selling to a Rex Martin student in Japan I was sick. I don't honestly know that it played that well, but it was just such a freakin neat horn. It also had the bflat crook. It played VERY well as a B flat.

The other was my first Efer, a 1987 YEB 321S. It was brand new and seemed to be much heavier than any other 321 I have played since. It had a sound between the Yamaha sound and a Besson 981 sound. Very full. I of course was in my early 20's and stupid and let someone convince me I needed to learn F instead. Arghhh.

Now after 20 something years of buyimg and trading I own exactly what I did when I graduated HS. Alex 163 and a 321S.....

[Liberty Mo]

Sigh....

[Wyvern]

Sigh....

What is it?

[Liberty Mo]

Sigh....

What is it?

It was a King 2341. Best horn I've ever played. I made the mistake of thinking I needed something more.

[MartyNeilan]

I remember seeing that 5 valve King when it was Lee Stofer's shop. A very unique instrument, with a 5th valve done better than the unfortunate production 5 valve 5xJ CC tubas.

That may have been when I was in the shop to pick up my Cerveny Harmonia, or getting work done on it.

I have bought and sold a lot of horns over the years. A very few I am glad to be rid of, some I miss a little, and some I miss a lot because, while maybe far from perfect, they had that "something" that made them special. High on that list are a 6/4 bellfront Martin Handcraft formerly owned by Jake, one of the very first Yamaha 621 F's, and my beloved Kalison K2001 (now in very happy hands, admirably holding down the bass line in one of the best community bands in TN or anywhere.) I will keep the recently departed Giant Eb off the list for now, in that it is so similar to the Conn CC that I currently possess, and it has found equally happy hands.

Highest on that list was the Harmonia. While far from the perfect F tuba, it epitomized the "sportscar" comparison often attributed to smaller F tubas, and the unique thumb operated Quint valve opened up the whole low register from Bb down. Intonation was a bit challenging, but I developed a whole set of unique fingerings specifically for this horn to bring it under control, often employing the flat halfstep lefthanded valve. I must say I was devastated when I first heard about the AGR conversion on the German style receiverless leadpipe, but I am willing to look at it with an open mind now. It is kind of like reuniting with an old girlfriend, but finding out that her ex had her get a "procedure" done. She will still be the same person, but you just don't know until you see her in person exactly how she will look - will there be that minute bit of disappointment to cloud the euphoria of your reunion, or will she look (and feel) even better?

Either way, I think I need to start picking out material so I can do a recital in the coming months.

[MartyNeilan]

Either that or it would be like a scene out of the old movie "Scanners" where she would just look at me real intensely until my head exploded.

Why do you think those horns were sold in the first place???

[Karl H.]

No regrets because I've never sold any! I still have my very first tuba purchase, a '60s era Alex 163 CC (bought used in 1976), and I also have a 5-valve '70s era Alex F (also used, in 1984), and a King double-belled baritone whose serial number indicates was made in 1935-36!.

Certainly the three best investments I've ever made. I've had an awful lot of pleasure playing these instruments, and can't imagine ever selling them... well, maybe the baritone!

Karl "who has a hard enough time playing tuba to waste time worrying about which stinkin' bell the sound comes out of the baritone" H.

[MichaelDenney]

Walter Sear De Prins (Belgium) BBb 4-piston front-action valve tuba of '60s or '70s vintage. Sweet little horn. Bore about .656 or .660, 18" upright bell, indestructible nickel plate, stout gauge metal, in almost mint condition and looked new. With a Monette 94 the intonation was surprisingly good. The bottom end was big enough for small to medium size groups, and the horn was spot on for quintet and the third part in tuba-euph quartet.

It had belonged to a bassist/tubist in New Orleans and was found in his house years after he passed away by the buyers of the house. It was a good horn to relearn tuba after 30 years idleness, and wasn't too huge a jump up from the big-bore euph I had been playing for many years.

I sold the Sear to help pay for one of the good Holton 345s, which I certainly do not regret, but the Sear was such a handsome horn, and with a unique wrap, that I miss just be able to look at it and handle it. I corresponded with Walter Sear, and he seemed pleased with how the model had turned out. He said that he designed horns that he would like to play.

[Stefan]

I've sold a Cerveny Piggy which I was happy to get rid of. A CB-50 which was a very nice tuba - but I don't miss it. And a MW 45S which I do miss. Although I do not regret selling that because I used the money for a trip to Europe which I will always remember. I wasn't playing the tuba and didn't need to have 2 tubas sitting around.

A future regret may be my current tuba - a MW 2155 - because I am considering selling it to buy an F. I really enjoyed my F when I had it and these days I really don't need such a big horn. But having played C since 1989, it's going to be quite a change if I go through with this. I may regret losing that sound. But hey, tubas can always be sold and new ones can be purchased. Nothing is permanent.

Stefan