Need help identifying 4-valve King bell-front model

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:22 am

I can't believe my luck - I picked up this horn at a local pawn shop. It was sitting in the corner marked $100 - so I went out to the car and grabbed my PT88 and blew some notes on it. It was obvious that something was stuck in the horn, rendering it nearly unplayable and hence the low sticker price.

So I asked the salesman if he would take $75 for it so I could "use it for parts." He agreed, and I took the horn home, turned it over twice, and out popped the Dasani water bottle that had been lodged in the lower branch.

After a complete disassembly, bath, steel wool-ing and lubricating of slides, and general polish of the horn, I find that this behemoth actually plays pretty well. The piston valves are clunky and a bit noisy, but the sound and tuning are both relatively good, especially in the low and middle registers (ok, I was using a PT88).

Now, can any of you sages help me identify the model of King pictured here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/boobatuba/my_photos
(click on the "King tuba" folder)

Serial number on the first valve casing is 384107 - putting it between 1960 and 1965.

I'm thinking of selling the horn and turning a tidy profit. Any help would be appreciated.

And a free tip - check out your local pawn shops - you never know what might be sitting in the corner!

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:58 am

Wow, what a downer reply to my great day...

Never mind the selling it part, I think I'll play it this summer for a while (fun for Arban studies) and maybe donate it to the junior high or high school music program.

I would still like some opinions as to what the horn is, though...

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:56 am

Just because it was in a pawn shop at a great price doesn't mean that it was stolen. It does appear that in many cases Pawn Shop = Fence, but that's not always true.

You appear to have a King model 1241. This was the model prior to the 2 piece 2341. Some have claimed that they played better than the later models, but I haven't ever played one in good enough shape to really be able to tell. An easy way to tell the difference between a 1241 and a 2341 is that the top 1st valve slide is fixed on the 1241, but can be pulled on the 2341.

Matt G · Post by **Matt G** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:52 am

windshieldbug · Post by **windshieldbug** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 1:05 pm

Hey- I've been looking all over for that darn Dasani water bottle! To think that it ended up in Oklahoma! Who'da thunk???

Lew · Post by **Lew** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:25 pm

tubafreaks7 wrote: ... But, to me, the glass is always half full.

As an engineer to me the glass is neither half full nor half empty, but it is too large.

Joe Baker · Post by **Joe Baker** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:42 pm

Dale, I feel badly that your tuba was stolen. To be sure, we should always be on the lookout for stolen goods, regardless of who is selling or the offered price. Remember a couple of years ago a TubeNet contributor was caught pilfering from a local college and fencing the goods -- at good but not extraordinary prices -- right here on TubeNet (and was successfully prosecuted with the cooperation of a few TubeNetters). Diligence is always in order when buying used items.

I'd suggest sending the serial number to the local police/sherrif's office and the state police, in a letter expressing your desire to be sure the instrument isn't stolen. You've already posted the vital info here, which (including our offline connections) gets the word to a LARGE number of tuba players who might know of such a horn being stolen. If it is stolen, you will have done all you can do to attempt to return it to its rightful owner. If you haven't heard anything back within 90 days or so, then enjoy the horn, sell it, or give it away with a clean conscience.
______________________________
Joe Baker, who thinks this sounds like a pawn broker who didn't know what he had and figured the tuba was "broken".

Todd S. Malicoate · Post by **Todd S. Malicoate** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:29 pm

Thanks Joe, good advice...

I did contact the pawn shop owner today and asked him about how he got hold of the horn. He told me it was from an estate auction a couple of months ago in the Oklahoma City area (he apparently has multiple stores in Oklahoma) and received no bids, so he got it as part of a mass "leftover" settlement (didn't know pawn shops got stuff that way...). At least it's not like somebody just brought it in off the street.

I wish I had taken some "before" pictures of the instrument - you would probably have seen why it got no bids and was for sale at $100 in a pawn shop - this thing was really ugly with tarnish and obviously clogged up. The valves were all stuck (a couple in the down or half-down position), as were the slides. The only real damage is the brace has been broken off from the main tuning slide and is gone.

I will contact the local sheriff (who I know and do business with often) and give him the serial number, just in case. I will definitely not be selling it (don't know how I would ever ship it anyway), it was just a thought. It would be nice to see it played by a younger student in the music program - I'll try to remember and gets some pics if and when that happens. I know I would have loved to have a horn that played as well as this one when I was starting out.

Anyway, thanks to all for the input!

Regards,

Todd

mTaUrBkA · Post by **mTaUrBkA** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:24 pm

being a high school band member.......I get the tuba players from your area I will be very greatful.....especially if they have beat up yamaha student horns older than half the people here duct taped together and a mirafone 186 that the puts a bad name to mirafones! Thats why I am so greatful my parents split the price of a tuba with me!

I ran into a similar situation of a pawn shop except it was a valve trombone........I found all the information by emailing the company. I actually emailed getzen first because it said don. E getzen on the bell.....but they directed me to another company that formally made caravelle classic instruments. If you find otu the info I would be curious what it was