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I came across this horn and assume it to be a BBb.
The stenciling on the bell reads:
De Prins Bros
Patented
Antwerp
Belgium
Walter E Sear
New York NY Anyway, does anyone know about this horn? How to date it - the serial is 226xx?
I can either get it playable and try to use it, or sell it, or...

What it needs:
It has the 4th valve but needs a valve cap, stem, and button (not likely to find a valve cap and so can fabricate one). In addition, it likely needs a new receiver or possibly mouthpipe as the mouthpiece end appears to be broken off about 1/4" down (perhaps someone twisted a stuck mouthpiece out?). Finally, it needs some dents rolled out of the bottom bow. The pistons are in decent condition and smooth, all the slides are smooth.

Worth keeping? Anyone played one of these?

I'm sure there are lots of others more qualified than I, but here goes my little perspective. I tried a couple of these when I visited Walter in 1978. He was very proud of the fact they were nickel-plated - which yours doesn't appear to be. Not sure whether that makes it older or if it has been stripped somehow (not sure if that is even possible). I found them to play very nicely but kind of stuffy low - comparable to a Conn 4J, maybe just a tad stuffier. I'll leave it to the experts as to what you're facing to get that horn back into playing shape. Don't expect to get a world-beater out of it, but a renovated one of these shouldn't totally suck.

Looks like it'd make a good fountain, or flower pot....

Tubajason wrote:Cleaned up you should have a nice tuba, but how it plays will be the unknown until you can find the missing parts. Dating wise I would guess early 1900's since the tuning slide is before the valve block. If you picked it up pretty cheap than you really have nothing to lose, best bet is to find a repair guy in the area with some valves hanging around and start seeing what fits. Chances are this is an American made horn that he put his name on. I would think Conn, king, or bluesher parts would be a good place to start looking for a match to what you are missing.

A little background on Mr. Sear (for those unfamiliar with the name):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Sear

Maybe this will help ...

http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/dec1999 ... 19168.html

DePrins was a small factory in Antwerp . They built instruments mainly for the military bands in the Belgian Congo. DePrins built tubas exclusivly for Walter Starting in the Mid 1960's and ending about 1980 production was very low. The instruments were totally hand made all but a few early horns were nickel plated. They came in 3 valve ,4 valve upright bells and 60degree recording bells. Most had movable thumb rings. The instrument were built like a brick s house. Getting the dents out of the bottom will be a chore.
The horn was loosly modeled after Walter's 190* Holton tuba. If you play the horn a while you will see what it can do. It is capable of beautiful softness and if you push it it can break lights in the back of the theater. It has one of the best recorded sounds of any horn I've played. The hor you have is from the late '60's or early 70's. The age is indicated by the ferrules on the main branches. My guess is the horn is from 1975. Earlier DePrins horns Had a rounded loop in the front 3rd slide tubing. You need to extend the 4th slide quite a bit. it was built as a subway horn with everything tucked in tight. nothing vulnerable to damage When carried in a soft bag. Someone stripped the nickel off this horn. no doubt.

All Walters Tubas were made in Europe. Either by Mahillon in Brussels, DePrins in Antwerp or Cerveny. It was Walter that revived the Cerveny tuba tradition and kept the factory from closing for good.
The Piggy was our creation at Sear. Its concept is now well copied in the industry.

I played much of my career on a Deprins. I think they play great. The 3 valve plays about as well as any horn ever built.

There were some CC s made but very few
The Valves are Stainless steel. Deprins may have used stainless before Conn
You wont find an American cap to fit.
Call me at 516-352-4070 on thurs day or Friday
I have the parts
Ray Noguera

You can see Walter Holton Here and read a little about his remarkable life

https://www.facebook.com/groups/118211651532419/" target="_blank

This one one grooves pretty good...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIwosiW4 ... re=related

Matt Ransom wrote:This one one grooves pretty good...........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIwosiW4 ... re=related

It does indeed! 'Preciate the link.

Ray -- thank you for the information! Much appreciated.

Bob Stewart palyed one for years. That a great clip. You can hear how good it sounds on mike. Great close ups of the leadpipe angle and early 3rd valve tubing. The bend was so the mouthpiece came out at the right angle. Bobs was a very early model in CC and thats a DePrins mouthpiece he is using.

ray

Ray's info is accurate, except that I am quite sure that mine had nickel-plated brass pistons. The fourth valve tubing needed an extra 5 inches on each side of the slide; I used tubing from a junked Eb tuba. The third valve tubing needed to be pulled out about 2 inches, which was easy. The only thing I did not like about the DePrins tubas was the leadpipe and mouthpiece receiver position. Walter wanted his mouthpiece to be exactly perpendicular to the plane of the tuba's large tubing, which made it very awkward. If you can replace the leadpipe and the valve cap and extend the 4th valve tubing you will have an excellent tuba with good intonation and crisp response.

Thanks for all the great input and information! It will be interesting to see how it turns out - definitely going to get it up and running.

I had the four-valve Bb version in nickel plate and really enjoyed it. The valves were the fastest I've ever had on any horn. With a Monette 94 mouthpiece the intonation was spot on. Mine was ~.656" bore. Singing tone. I didn't find the low range stuffy, but I did have to concentrate to get a rich, complex tone down there due to the small bore. A nimble horn. The only reason I sold it was to get my wonderful Holton 345.

I played one of these when I first went to college at Tenn Tech. It played pretty well and was a CCC with four valves. I played it until my horn showed up. It is still in use I believe by an alumni when it isn't needed for a present student.
I was silver in color so may have been nickel plated.
I always thought it had a nice basic sound and the intonation was pretty good actually.
ScottM