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I had a guy contact me after a performance and he said he had an old 4 valve York Helicon that he might want to sell. So I went over to his house today and sure enough, he had a rare 1920's vintage 4 valve BBb York and Sons Helicon. He said he has had it in his garage since 1968 when it was donated to the band he tried to form for a local American Legion post, but he is a sax player and doesn't play the tuba. It is in very nice condition with only minor repair scars on the original lead pipe and neck. Very few dents in the main wrap and only minor dents in the bell. The silver plating looks to be close to 100% intact. All the slides pull and the valves look to be in fairly nice shape. All the original valve buttons are intact too. It also has a Conn-Chief mouthpiece with it.

My questions are:

1. How many different versions of Helicons did York make?

2. Did they have different bore sizes available? This horn seems to have valves that are smaller than .750 bore and the leadpipe seems to be a little small in diameter.

3. How well did these horns play compared to other brands such as Conn? This one plays like it has a small air leak somewhere but other than that it seems OK.

4. How much would you expect to pay for a York Helicon in this condition?

I'll give him $100 right now, and I'll pay shipping.

I have a 1927 catalog, and by that time they are only listing sousaphones.

2 sizes each, Bb & BBb.
However, they don't describe size by bore, just by bell size, 26" and 28" for both keys.

I had a chance to buy a York BBb 4-valve helicon in the Boston area back around 1965.
It was a small-bore, silver-plated instrument. I didn't have a place to put it and I didn't have the 75 bucks that he wanted for it, but I have been kicking myself ever since. "Non-buyer's remorse" can be nasty.