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Last night I discovered that someone in my town has a Conn 3-valve tuba for sale for $500.I called about it today and he tells me he needs the money, so he dropped the price to $250.
He knows nothing about a tuba [from talking briefly with him], other than it has a bunch of dents.
My question: Is there any way that I will lose money on this, assuming it isn't trashed when I see it? If I buy it at that price, spend a little on cosmetics and re-sell it, what might it sell for? I realize that I don't know the model [other than 3 valve] nor bell-up or -front, nor do I yet know if the valves work and have compression.Assuming it isn't a complete dog, is there a market?
TIA
Scottw

the likelihood of your being able to acquire this horn, pay someone else to " fix it up " then resell for a profit are slim. That's a proposition best left to the professional repair people who can put nothing into the horn but their time...coming out of pocket with dollars skews the profit opportunity. What are most old three valve tubas worth ? I bought , fixed up and resold an old 12J and a Besson Imperial...I was lucky to break even...
just my two cents ...js

You might have found a diamond in the rough. But... with the little dab of information you posted... I can't comment.

It could be a beat-all-to-heck 12J with a torn bell... in which case it's probably just good for parts.

OR

It could be a 20J with few dents in the body and a perfect upright bell.

At any rate... you could probable eBay it for the $250 and at least recover your investment.

TubaTinker wrote:You might have found a diamond in the rough. But... with the little dab of information you posted... I can't comment.

It could be a beat-all-to-heck 12J with a torn bell... in which case it's probably just good for parts.

OR

It could be a 20J with few dents in the body and a perfect upright bell.

At any rate... you could probable eBay it for the $250 and at least recover your investment.

Thanks, Dan,
How would I tell a 12J from a 20J? I assume a 20J is the better of the 2 models? Is it a matter of bore size?
I wish I had more information, but that's all I could get from him as he was trying to sell instruments at a flea market and talk on the phone to me at the same time. I will call him Monday to see if he sold it over the weekend.
Scottw

scottw wrote:

TubaTinker wrote:You might have found a diamond in the rough. But... with the little dab of information you posted... I can't comment.

It could be a beat-all-to-heck 12J with a torn bell... in which case it's probably just good for parts.

OR

It could be a 20J with few dents in the body and a perfect upright bell.

At any rate... you could probable eBay it for the $250 and at least recover your investment.

Thanks, Dan,
How would I tell a 12J from a 20J? I assume a 20J is the better of the 2 models? Is it a matter of bore size?
I wish I had more information, but that's all I could get from him as he was trying to sell instruments at a flea market and talk on the phone to me at the same time. I will call him Monday to see if he sold it over the weekend.
Scottw

Posting a picture would be best.

the elephant wrote:

scottw wrote:Last night I discovered that someone in my town has a Conn 3-valve tuba for sale for $500.I called about it today and he tells me he needs the money, so he dropped the price to $250.
He knows nothing about a tuba [from talking briefly with him], other than it has a bunch of dents.

This sounds really suspicious - like stolen - to me. I would avoid this at all costs. If you buy it and it turns out to be stolen and is identified by the owner and it goes to court, you could have to surrender it and you would not get your money back.

Dropping the price by 50% to "move it quickly" in just a few seconds of conversation while knowing nothing about tuba is a giant, waving red flag to me.

Good luck.

Yep, that had occurred to me too. I need to ask some questions.

Way too many variables, without seeing it. Get on The Conn Loyalist website and at least familiarize yourself with what the most common models are, like the 10J, 12J and the 20J, the most likely models this tuba is, so you'll know what you're looking at.

Resale of a 3-valve tuba? If it's a 12J (front valves) or 10J (top valves), slim. If it's a 20J, depends on condition, but not much more. If you're going to purchase it for yourself to play, it has the same limitations of all 3-valve tubas, especially for low range, and unless it by chance turns out to be a 20J that has good false pedals and reasonable intonation otherwise, even $250 may not be a good deal.

Of course, I have a 3-valve Besson comp, but I just particularly like that model, because with the comp loops it has great overall tone and intonation even though it looks like hell. Most 3-valve tubas don't.

There's one possibility that has not been mentioned: if the guy doesn't know anything about tubas, it could be a souzy. Then it's worth the $250 if it plays.

I also agree that the too-quick price drop could raise the "stolen" red flag, so be careful. If you do decide to look at it, don't go to his house unless you're very familiar with the neighborhood; instead, ask him to meet you in a public place, like a grocery store parking lot, during daylight hours.

On the other hand, this may be a completely legitimate transaction. A junk dealer, in hard times, may make an offer like that just to move what he considers to be not-very-desirable inventory. If it is a complete instrument that can be restored, it may be worth $250.00 as a parts horn. If you can post photos here, or somehow determine what it is, that will tell a lot about it's value. It could be anything from a small 10J to a 6/4 20J, or a rare 80J 4/4. I would proceed with caution.

After high school, my band director gave me and Olds O-99 that was unplayable and donated to the school. Needed some dent work in the bottom bow, as well as a new 3rd valve (which was completely missing). Various other work, but nothing tragic. Total repair bill was $900.

I kept it and played it for about 5 years (for fun, had another school owned "everyday" tuba), and traded it in for $700.

That was pre-China tuba "craze"... I might not have been as lucky (or willing to repair) now days...