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Hello All,

My Father-in-law recently gave me his old Wurlitzer Eb Symphony tuba so I could repair/restore it. He hasn't played it in almost 45 years... That being said, it was pretty tarnished but in incredibly well kept condition. I took it to a local (reputable) repair shop and had it flushed and the slides freed up and valves cleaned out. After thorough inspection, the horn is absolutely in more than playable condition with no leakage and everything free and moving. The one caveat we had was that the mouthpiece, which we believe is the original one that came with the horn, has some fissures on the shank and is in somewhat rough condition. It's usable, but it's not ideal. The only markings on it is the number '58' on the side of the cup. It works, but he asked me if I could possibly source a replacement mouthpiece. He also requested that I find some of the history on this horn to help assess it's overall value. He's under the impression it's a "junker" horn, but I completely disagree. I haven't found any examples online that are in this good of condition and in reaching out to a couple of highly reputable resources they seem to agree. I thought I would ask the broader group of people here for any insight, information or advice on this horn so I can relay this back to him. Here are a few pictures of the horn after putting in a couple of hours of elbow grease on it. I was specifically asked to do a restoration and polish, so before anyone gets bent out of shape about patina... That being said, this is apparently actual silver plating...

Here's the general info of the horn insofar as I can tell:

Brand: Wurlitzer
Manufacturer: I think it's Pan American
Serial Number: P16542
Height: ~32in
Bell Diameter: 15in
Diameter of leadpipe: 0.54 - measured inside diameter
Bore: I measure .677 going into the 1st valve

I *think* the manufacture date of this horn is approximately 1920-1921 based on the Serial Number... but if anyone has any further info on that or in general I'd appreciate it.

Looks like a Conn/Pan American to me as well. Cool engraving, it's fun to see the unusual branding. You're right that although these typically don't sell for much much, they're also typically in horrible condition. I don't know if I've ever seen one that looks this good, so it's tough to assess the $ value.

When the valves are tight, they play well and are great student horns (for learning Eb) or for taking to tubachristmas when you don't want to lug something heavy. However only having 3 valves limits their usefulness in more musical settings quite a bit.

The mouthpiece is likely not worth repairing. Some of these old Eb's have a very small shank, about the same size as a large shank trombone mouthpiece, so testing if that's the case is a good idea. To source a replacement if it's the small shank, Dennis Wick is probably the most cost effective solution. Tiny old Eb's often don't respond well when played with with larger modern mouthpieces.

I'd be interested in that if it plays in tune. Looking for an "old man" Eb for brass band.

I've played around on it some, and so far the valves are smooth, but tight. I don't feel any leakage anywhere. Tuning seems to be mostly OK, albeit a bit nuanced. I'm actually quite impressed with how well it plays considering the shape it was in after being in storage for ~45 years. My local shop had a fit getting the tuning slides to free up, but it was just a thin ring of crud on the inside. They're completely free moving and aren't binding at all.

I can't get my hands on a Denis Wick mouthpiece, but I did some measurements on the mouthpiece and it appears as though the Schilke 60 "Large Shank Bass Trombone" mouthpiece is a very close fit. I've got one of those on order. For now the original mouthpiece is playable for the most part. I'll give the new one a try when it comes in. I've read that apparently tuning will be a bit "off" with the new one, but adjustments can be made to compensate.

Just FYI, if the Schilke doesn't work great for you, here's a link to the Dennis Wick:

https://www.baltimorebrasscompany.com/p ... piece.aspx