NAME THAT TUBA...!!!

[MikeS]

The Salvationist Triumphonic Eflats have identical (or pretty darn nearly) forgings at the receiver and the very same "carriage strap" holder/demasculator on the bottom bow.

[imperialbari]

The Salvationist Triumphonic Eflats have identical (or pretty darn nearly) forgings at the receiver and the very same "carriage strap" holder/demasculator on the bottom bow.

Without having seen actual business records it is my impression from watching British instruments that makers exchanged/shared a lot of parts and ideas. The same of course goes for the German, Czech, and American makers within their respective areas.

Around old Markneukirchen there were bell makers, valve makers, and several other specialists. The name on the bell basically told which master workshop did the assembly. And not much more.

The current boss of Meinl Weston a few years ago said, that only two tuba makers, worldwide, made all parts themselves: Yamaha and MW.

Klaus

[J.c. Sherman]

Anyone?

I'm going with York Eb with their patented High/Low pitch Loop...

And the double mouthpipe brace on that Eb still has me guessing...

J.c.S.

[Tubaing]

Anyone?

I'm going with York Eb with their patented High/Low pitch Loop...

And the double mouthpipe brace still has me... is it pre-Hawkes Boosey?

J.c.S.

Got it!

And the double braced was a Besson Eb "Prototype" 40 Metal of Honour circa 1888

[J.c. Sherman]

AAAAGGGHH!!! I thought of that this morning. Excuse me while I shoot myself....

J.c.S.

[THE TUBA]

Bump

[J.c. Sherman]

Higham...BBb

I know it because I know the photo's source... and I've always thought this was a wonderful and memorable design. Reminds me in some ways of the later Kings...

J.c.

[THE TUBA]

Yep and Yep.

[The Big Ben]

Arg you got it. Did you find an old post and look at my signature? It is indeed a Mirafone 1270. I've only been able to get a model # from the Miraphone Representative directly. And I've yet to see another one just like this. A few near identical upright models with four valves. It's a goofy little thing that's for sure!

The four valve model would be a 1271 (although with front action instead of top - have you seen an upright action 4 valve like this?). There are very few of them, and I did a search at http://www.miraphone.de to find the model number of their old 3 valve recording bass.

I just got one of the 3v models of this horn. It was sittin' on daBay at $160 with 30 min. to go and it looked OK- a couple of leaks and missing two valve buttons and on valve stem but looked like something I could fix up. I got it for $175 with $30 shipping!

I can see where the leaks are and they just need a little solder. It's kind of worn from years of school use but it is not battered. A few dents and the bell is smushed down a little bit from standing. It's thick metal! I'm going to have it serviced lo-buck and probably sell it. Would be good for a beginner or as a "Keep it at home" horn for a HS kid.

[humBell]

Strange, last post in this thread is from right about the time i decided to try playin' tuba...

photo.JPG

This would be the first i actually own. Not that i was (or am) picky, as it freed me from toting the group's tuba back and forth if i wanted to practice, and i always needed it... And still do of course.

Make will be sufficient, as it's all i know...

[humBell]

At what point should i time out due to lack of interest, and let folk know?

[humBell]

Buescher? (I do not think that I'm correct.)

Nope.

(Though now it occurs to me from my reading that there is a non-zero chance it is a stencil of something... Will poke around a bit to see how likely that might be)

[humBell]

Buescher? (I do not think that I'm correct.)

Online associates it with stencils in non-tuba instruments, so it's well within reason.

If it were a stencil, that may explain even the online pictures from this maker do not resemble this.

Looking through horn-i-copia's Buescher sousaphones (and i expect it's obvious from the curvature, that it's at least a helicon), they are the only others i've seen that have the main tuning slide above the valve tuning slides.

Thank you for that insight.

I guess as a sousaphone, with a removable bell, someone could have swapped bells on this, but they do seem to match, so i'm reasonably confident.

And it may be too much of a hint, but a search for the maker on tubenet often yields it as something of a joke. Which is why i thought it vaguely appropriate to post it out of the blue...

[humBell]

This is the structural image that was in my head...
Buescher made both sousaphones and helicons with this configuration.

Everything looks "1920's Buescher" to me in your picture EXCEPT the socket/flange brace assembly from the #3 slide to the 4th branch looks too ornate for Buescher...Is the bore size approx. 18.5mm ?

You may have to walk me through what specifically i should be measuring.

Pulling the 3rd slide and grabbing a caliper, the inside diameter of the end of the slide itself is pretty close to the 1.6mm mark.

As lay out goes, the valve loops all exit and enter on the same side of the valves. You can shine down 'em to check the alignment when the valves are depressed.

I can take another picture if that helps...

[humBell]

I'm guessing you mean "centimeter"...in which case the bore would be c. 5/8" (small bore).

Yes, i do mean 16 mm (or 1.6 cm, which is the metric part of the caliper. Yeah, the dial was some where around .62 or .63 inches, so 5/8" is it.

Sorry about that.

[humBell]

More complete pictures...

Player goes in here:


Sorry, my hand must not have been as steady as i thought it was there...

Music (such as it is) comes out here:


And having previewed this, i apologize for how the size of the images come out. I might do a more conscientious job later,


And the answer (maker's engraving on back side of the bell)


Anyway, thanks Bloke for the interest.

And again, please pardon me if this was perhaps more obscure than this thread wants. I coulda and probably shoulda posted the pictures and said what it was, but then putting it here woulda lost it's use...

How worthy of restoration efforts is it? (My answer is currently a lazy yes, as i've got other things to distract me presently)

Anyway, thanks all for your time...

[humBell]

definitely references the 1920's Buescher design...and (yep) Czech.

A genuine Buescher helicon sold on eBay just a few days ago for not-much.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Sousaph ... 1356785766

Someone got a pretty good deal.

Been a while since i've done more than window shop on ebay...

I should probably take it slow, if i return.

May have one or two other things worth posting here, as i get around to it.