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This is interesting, has anyone seen anything like it?
Italy BBb tuba in raw brass, no case. 22" upright bell and 4 rotors of .900" bore. 38" tall.

I assume you saw this at a certain NJ retail / repair shop for sale ? I m sure Matt will give you the skinny if you ring him up...

Parts available for it in J C Whitney catelog.

You might want to check of soldering leaks. Someone said, "it plays like a sewer pipe" and that's usually the first sign of a big leak. Of course, with that .9" bore anything could happen to the playing characteristics. Check for leaks anyway, it might help.

KiltieTuba wrote:

Alex C wrote:You might want to check of soldering leaks. Someone said, "it plays like a sewer pipe" and that's usually the first sign of a big leak. Of course, with that .9" bore anything could happen to the playing characteristics. Check for leaks anyway, it might help.

He said it sarcastically with a laugh.

No, I am serious. True, what we say in print is difficult to interpret but this was an attempt to offer a solution. I did see later that the horn is for sale at Dillon's and not owned by the poster which would add to the confusion.

Mr personal experience is that I have owned three older instruments (Conn, Alexander, York) which played like sewer pipes. I found serious solder gaps in all three which I had repaired. It improved all three dramatically. Leaking solder joints are a major problem in instrument manufacture and it is often not addressed.

Ok....I guess I will "fess up" and let all know I ordered this tuba a week ago from Dillons. The tuba arrived earlier today and I am having a blast playing it It has a gorgeous mellow tone - it's like a mix of Alexander and York. The spit valve was leaking pretty bad so I took out the old cork, *gently* bent the spit valve to "cup" the hole better and cut some foam to fit it. Much better now! I also greased a couple slides that needed it and wiped the tuba down a bit.
This is a Cazzani BBb tuba made in Milan.......it is NOT a Kalison. I am guessing Darryl Smith saw one of these old Cazzani tubas over in Italy and then asked Kalison to make tubas based on their design. As you know, it has a huge valve bore of .900 and huge 22 inch bell. But the bottom and top bows are rather smallish, so the tuba is like a mix of 3/4 and 6/4 proportions. Great old tuba!