List of Active Tuba Manufacturers

[SousaWarrior9]

While there's still a far amount of brass instrument makers out there, it seems like fewer and fewer offer tubas in their catalog. What follows is a list of every factory and/or custom shop I can think of off the top of my head that's is both currently in business as of present day, and is currently making tubas. I'm only doing this because I'm sure I'm missing some and I'd love for the rest of y'all to fill in the gaps for me.

A few notes to consider:
-I'm attempting to list locations of manufacturing as apposed to locations of organizational leadership
-In cases where an entity has some manufacturing done locally and "budget" lines produced overseas, I am listing the local manufacturing under the heading of the associated brand name, and listing the Chinese makers as their own entities

Here's what I can recall:

Austria:
-Schagerl

Brasil:
-Weril

China:
-Eastman
-Packer
-JinBao
-Zo
-JinYin
-Haushen
-[Others that I am missing, please feel free to provide corrections or chime in with others]

Czechia:
-Josef Lidl (Lidl, Cerveny)

Germany:
-Alexander
-Buffet Group (Meinl Weston, Besson, B&S)
-Herrmann Schmidt
-Jestädt
-Klingspor (Gronitz)
-Miraphone
-MTP
-Rudolf Meinl
-Thein
-Walter Nirschl
-[Others?]

India:
-Nadir Ali
-[Additional factories in Meerut]

Japan:
-Yamaha

Netherlands:
-Adams

Ukraine (Not Russia)
-St. Petersburg

Switzerland:
-Willson

Taiwan:
-Jupiter

U.S.A:
-Conn-Selmer (Conn, King)
-Lee Stofer

Alright, who am I missing? I'm sure there are loads of factories throughout China that I'm missing as well as some boutique makers in Germany and elsewhere in mainland Europe that I've missed as well. Help me fill in the list.

[GeoffC_UK]

Interesting.
Can I say that it's so sad not to see the UK listed.
Our great manufacturing history gone in a generation.
If I win the lottery over this weekend I'll set a factory up.

[Douglas]

Mack is mostly JinBao. To categorize them with ZO and no JB seems inaccurate.

[iiipopes]

Wessex: based in UK, has a branch and warehouse in the USA, manufactured in China.
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/

[SousaWarrior9]

Mack is mostly JinBao. To categorize them with ZO and no JB seems inaccurate.

Good point, I'll edit the list

Wessex: based in UK, has a branch and warehouse in the USA, manufactured in China.
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/

True, though I'm attempting to compile the list based on the location of manufacturing as opposed to location of organizational leadership, etc.

[circusboy]

What's the story with Lidl/Cerveny? Is it that Cerveny is out of business, but Lidl is now making some of their BBb and F models (but not CC nor EEb)? Are they manufacturing at the old Cerveny factory?

Sad also not to see Kanstul, Getzen, Hirsbrunner, and many of the older American names.

[SousaWarrior9]

What's the story with Lidl/Cerveny? Is it that Cerveny is out of business, but Lidl is now making some of their BBb and F models (but not CC nor EEb)? Are they manufacturing at the old Cerveny factory?

Sad also not to see Kanstul, Getzen, Hirsbrunner, and many of the older American names.

Long story short as I understand it, Cerveny had fallen on financially hard times and was forced to close, Lidl swooped in immediately and hired all the Amati/Cerveny workers back under them. So the exact same workers in the exact same factory are making the Cerveny designs as they always were, it's just under ownership of Lidl now. Strange that Lidl isn't listing the CC of Eb designs on their site, but if the nature of the buyout is as I understand it, all the tooling and parts are still there, so I'd imagine one could still order one if they asked.

Agreed that its sad to see no Kansttul. Getzen is still going strong however, just not making tubas, so they aren't on this list, but Lee Stofer is Making his custom tubas with the remaining new old stock Getzen parts, so they're still on this list in a way.

[iiipopes]

Mack is mostly JinBao. To categorize them with ZO and no JB seems inaccurate.

Good point, I'll edit the list

Wessex: based in UK, has a branch and warehouse in the USA, manufactured in China.
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/

True, though I'm attempting to compile the list based on the location of manufacturing as opposed to location of organizational leadership, etc.

Yes. Having worked with the logistical details of setting up business entities all my professional life, you can't divorce the location of the headquarters from the location of the factory. This Wessex web page goes into detail about the factory:
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/pages/about-us
And the blog talks about the location and other details, here are two example blog posts:
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/blogs/news/ ... ory-part-1
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/blogs/news/ ... ory-part-2
I guess we all thought that once we provided you the basic information (pun intended) on any particular manufacturer, you would be doing your own research to flesh out the rest of the details you wish to compile, as in possibly the longevity of the factory, models produced, notable players of particular instruments, and so forth. For example, on a public corporation, the annual filing should have the major facilities listed, including addresses of factories and major branches of the business.

[SousaWarrior9]

Yes. Having worked with the logistical details of setting up business entities all my professional life, you can't divorce the location of the headquarters from the location of the factory. This Wessex web page goes into detail about the factory:
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/pages/about-us
And the blog talks about the location and other details, here are two example blog posts:
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/blogs/news/ ... ory-part-1
https://us.wessex-tubas.com/blogs/news/ ... ory-part-2
I guess we all thought that once we provided you the basic information (pun intended) on any particular manufacturer, you would be doing your own research to flesh out the rest of the details you wish to compile, as in possibly the longevity of the factory, models produced, notable players of particular instruments, and so forth. For example, on a public corporation, the annual filing should have the major facilities listed, including addresses of factories and major branches of the business.

My apologies for not being clearer, my intent wasn't to divorce the locations of headquarters from manufacturing, but rater so simply say, for example: "JinBao is one of the factories where brass instruments are made. How many other brass instrument factories that are producing tubas are still active?"
I only initially listed Wessex as a point of reference since it is one of the most well-known brandings coming from there, to attempt to provide some context.

I'm well aware of Wessex's UK and US operations, having visited the US showroom myself, and I'm thankful for the information they've provided, so I'm not trying to misrepresent them in any way with this list.

[T. J. Ricer]

Interesting.
Can I say that it's so sad not to see the UK listed.
Our great manufacturing history gone in a generation.
If I win the lottery over this weekend I'll set a factory up.

Mike Johnson is still building tubas (and cimbassos) in the UK.

http://m-j-c.co.uk/

-T. J.

[Snake Charmer]

Not to forget Klingspor in Germany, successor of Gronitz.

OK, just saw the edited version of the original post

[GeoffC_UK]

Mike Johnson is still building tubas (and cimbassos) in the UK.

http://m-j-c.co.uk/

Morning,
I know of Mike as he customised my 782: https://youtu.be/KASsK-A4DH0
Knew he manufactures cimbassi, but didn't know that he nailed together bass tubas.
He certainly has the skill-set, not unlike Mark Carter in Wales, but very much artisans, rather than a factory shelling them out for retail.
I'm still gonna have a British factory if I win big on the lottery.
G

[T. J. Ricer]

And when I win the lottery, I’ll be right over to buy a tuba from each of you! (and find an English Breakfast or two)

-T. J.

Mike Johnson is still building tubas (and cimbassos) in the UK.

http://m-j-c.co.uk/

Morning,
I know of Mike as he customised my 782: https://youtu.be/KASsK-A4DH0
Knew he manufactures cimbassi, but didn't know that he nailed together bass tubas.
He certainly has the skill-set, not unlike Mark Carter in Wales, but very much artisans, rather than a factory shelling them out for retail.
I'm still gonna have a British factory if I win big on the lottery.
G

[PGL@UK]

One UK manufacturer to add to the list:- Sterling Musical Instruments

The have a new Virtuosi EE-flat tuba in a similar price range to Besson 981/982. They also include other brass band instruments in their 'Virtuosi' range (Euphonium, Baritone, Tenor Horn etc), endorsed by some of the leading UK brass band players. All instruments stamped 'Made in England'.

From their website:-

"Sterling Musical Instruments have been manufacturing in the UK since 1987, producing brass instruments specifically aimed at the British style brass band.

By employing several Boosey & Hawkes craftsmen, the company was able to rapidly establish itself in the brass band market, producing hand built quality instruments. The next stage of development was to recognise the growing demand by musicians, that not everyone wanted the standard 'off the shelf' instrument. This has resulted in the development of the new 'Sterling Virtuoso Range', which allows musicians to design an instrument that best suits their needs and demands.

The founder and sole owner of Sterling, Paul Riggett (himself an accomplished brass musician), was previously Manufacturing Manager for Boosey & Hawkes Ltd before creating Sterling. As such, he has unequalled experience in the manufacture and design of professional brass instruments."

[Lee Stofer]

I am currently in discussions with Josef Lidl about the possibility of becoming their US representative. My
contact at Lidl has assured me more than once that, although they currently list only BBb and F models, that
any of the BBb models are also available in CC. I would suspect the same concerning F and Eb. To start with,
I'm seriously considering a trial run, by importing a LBF851-6GZ, a 4+2 rotor F-tuba with rose brass bell and leadpipe,
nickel-silver valve casings, miniball linkage, basically the top-of-the-line F-tuba, so see what they're going to be able
to produce. Lidl is saying that they are serious about quality, and that all of their tubas will have nickel-silver valve
casings, nickel-silver slides and miniball linkage. If you would like to try out a new Lidl 6-rotor F-tuba, or some other
model here in the US, just let me know and I'll see what I can do for you.

[hup_d_dup]

Geneva (https://genevainstruments.com/) are located in the UK. They make very high quality instruments (including tubas) that are manufactured in England.

Hup

[PGL@UK]

Geneva (https://genevainstruments.com/) are located in the UK. They make very high quality instruments (including tubas) that are manufactured in England.

I'd heard that Geneva instruments were manufactured by Cerveny in the Czech factory. Not sure how that stands now with Josef Lidl taking over the Cerveny manufacturing factory?

[Mario Aliste]

Hi everybody,

In Brazil there are 3 brands of tubas:

Weril
Weingrill & Nirschl
HS Musical

The HS Musical is a new brand, but they produced Weril's tubas too.

https://hsmusical.com.br/
https://www.facebook.com/hsindustriamusical/
https://www.instagram.com/hsindustriamusical/

Tks