Tubas on the walls

[Art Hovey]

My father was an instrumental music teacher in a small town. One of his fishing buddies owned a local bar with old swords and axes displayed on the walls. After a few years of seeing drunks trying to yank the weapons off the wall and attack their pals, he decided to get rid of the cutlery and asked my dad for some junk musical instruments to hang there instead. That was generally regarded as a good idea at the time.

[BopEuph]

My father was an instrumental music teacher in a small town. One of his fishing buddies owned a local bar with old swords and axes displayed on the walls. After a few years of seeing drunks trying to yank the weapons off the wall and attack their pals, he decided to get rid of the cutlery and asked my dad for some junk musical instruments to hang there instead. That was generally regarded as a good idea at the time.

I'm sure there was a more comical quality to those that tried to take the instruments off the wall and beat each other over the head with them.

Nick

[windshieldbug]

My father was an instrumental music teacher in a small town. One of his fishing buddies owned a local bar with old swords and axes displayed on the walls. After a few years of seeing drunks trying to yank the weapons off the wall and attack their pals, he decided to get rid of the cutlery and asked my dad for some junk musical instruments to hang there instead. That was generally regarded as a good idea at the time.

Seems to me that I've heard individuals in whose hands instruments were both deadly objects and weapons of mass intonation...

[Tom Holtz]

The ceiling of Bertha's, a restaurant and bar in Fells Point in Baltimore, MD, is a veritable graveyard of instruments. Accordions, bass drums, trumpets, saxes, you name it. The "chandelier" in the main dining room is built around an old King sousaphone. Lots of stuff there. When I go up on Wednesdays to play jazz, I take the old Buescher helicon with me, and usually eat dinner before playing. A few years ago, I brought a bicycle storage hook with me, and screwed it into the rafters right below where I sit during the gig. I hang the horn there, and it looks just like another p.o.s. decoration. A safer place to store the horn, there never was.

The looks on the patrons' faces is fairly rewarding, too, when I walk back into the bar, pull a horn of the ceiling, and start playing jazz.

[BopEuph]

http://cgi.ebay.com/CIVIL-WAR-ERA-TUBA- ... dZViewItem

Check out the description. There is many categories in TubeNet this can fall into, as there are some funny quotes in there, like:

THERE ARE 3 NOTES THAT WHEN THEY ARE PUSHED DOWN TURN A STRING THAT IN TURN MAKES A VALVE TURN DIRECTING THE AIR.. PRIMITIVE BUT THEY WORK FINE.

But it's being advertised as a wall hanger. I think this is a bass saxhorn or something, and it would be a shame to do to this instrument what others were doing to instruments mentioned on this thread. Someone should probably save it. I would, but don't have the money.

Nick

[Mike Finn]

http://cgi.ebay.com/CIVIL-WAR-ERA-TUBA- ... dZViewItem

That's a really neat old horn! It appears that the lead pipe is on the left side of the bell, like a top-action instrument. However the placement of the valves would require that you reach around (from underneath) to operate them. A front-action horn with the bell pointing off to the player's right. Far out!

Someone should probably save it.

I recognize a few of the names in the bidding list, and it's already well out of the "decoration" price range. I'm pretty sure this will find a good home.
MF

[windshieldbug]

It appears that the lead pipe is on the left side of the bell, like a top-action instrument. However the placement of the valves would require that you reach around (from underneath) to operate them. A front-action horn with the bell pointing off to the player's right.

On cornets or trumpets, this is known as SARV (Side Action Rotary Valve), as opposed to TARV (Top Action Rotart Valve). Both types were usually American in make. The SARV differs from the now-usual rotary valve action in that it is string connected, and the key extends over the valve, and is connected at the bottom on it's way back. I find it interesting on this horn, that like on trumpets and cornets, it is not the thumb that has a holder, but the little finger! (talk about muscle building!!)

[windshieldbug]

I think that it might have fallen into my basket of TGI Fridays Fried Cheese . . . The word "crunchy" comes to mind

At least they didn't empty the water key...

[corbasse]

I love what they did to this one!

[windshieldbug]

I love what they did to this one!

Sorry to mention this, but the ball at the very left sounds flat...

[GC]

In the 8th Regiment Civil War band, all of our tubas are side-action Eb rotor horns. Unlike the tuba recently mentioned on the Nameless Auction Site, the valve spatulas are close to the right side of the horn, so the right palm supports the side and most of the weight while playing. It's not at all uncomfortable, and except for really flat open high G's the horns play pretty well.

All of our cornets (Eb and Bb) are side-valve rotary instruments except for one circular cornet with a flying bell and top action rotors, and some of our tenor and baritone horns are top action rotary. We have some more or less modern piston-valve alto horns and an occasional euphonium playing the Bb bass part (not the same as tuba, but above it). Considering the age of some of our instruments and that all of the rotors have strings, not links, repair problems become an issue, but these old instruments have a gorgeous, mellow sound. In a small ensemble without part doubling, the timbres shine through clearly and don't get homogenized like often happens in large groups.