i am a brasswind repair technician, among other things... however, i usually work on woodwinds (despite being a tubist and trombonist), so i don't know an awful lot about brass instruments...
other than, you know, how to play them...
i recently received a Conn C tuba as payment for repairing a guy's ugly E♭ sousaphone (it was held together with duct tape - pictures here - http://flic.kr/s/aHsjysBKGP ). when i gave him the E♭ sousaphone back, in playable condition, he gave me this wonderful Conn C tuba, which i have been playing the hell out of...
problem is, i don't know what it is...
it has the name Conn engraved (well, "stamped", really) on the bell, and the serial number (762417) indicates that it was made some time between 1958 and 1959, but the model number is nowhere to be found.
i think it's either a 56J or a 5J, but i don't know.
it can be seen here - http://flic.kr/p/bJGmxn - along side my Elkhorn E♭ tuba. more pictures are available, if needed.
do any of you other tuba nuts know how to tell the difference? i'd be obliged if anyone could tell me...
thanks!
Vincent Bach 42B bass trombone Pan American/Elkhorn E♭ tuba Conn 2J CC tuba Olds BB♭ sousaphone J.W. Pepper B♭ tenor horn
talleyrand wrote:If the mp receiver is original it should have the model number engraved on it, I believe.
well, the mp receiver is apparently not original, because it does not have anything engraved on it...
although if it has been replaced, it was by someone with a great deal more experience with a soldering torch than me, because it doesn't have any burned lacquer, or bare spots, (in fact it looks like it has all the original lacquer) and it doesn't have funky-looking solder joints...
Vincent Bach 42B bass trombone Pan American/Elkhorn E♭ tuba Conn 2J CC tuba Olds BB♭ sousaphone J.W. Pepper B♭ tenor horn
The fourth valve configuration and the silver highlights. The C version of a 4J is a 2J. The 3and 5 J's were a later incarnation that were actually built by Conn. The 2 and 4J's, from what I understand were built For Conn by Olds. Right? Ed
EdFirth wrote:The fourth valve configuration and the silver highlights. The C version of a 4J is a 2J. The 3and 5 J's were a later incarnation that were actually built by Conn. The 2 and 4J's, from what I understand were built For Conn by Olds. Right? Ed
Yup... this is a 2J... one of the best all around 3/4s made ever... I LOVE these things.
That Eb sousa's the bigger story - what a wreck that came in as!
Principal Tuba, Opera Cleveland Principal Tuba, Firelands Symphony Orchestra http://www.jcsherman.net
EdFirth wrote:The 2 and 4J's, from what I understand were built For Conn by Olds. Right? Ed
During an earlier discussion on this, I talked to a longtime Conn artist/rep. I also talked to a sales rep who was a tuba player so he was interested in tubas. They both said no Conn tubas were built by Olds. Conn did use Olds tooling in the 2J & 3J but nobody else built them.
Other good folks learned differently so I guess it depends on what source you believe. I believe my guys.
I don't know what tuba this is. I thought the 2J/3J models weren't built until the mid 60's, but the (unreliable) serial number puts it earlier. Is mid 1950's when Conn build that model? Looks like a 2J.
City Intonation Inspector - Dallas Texas "Holding the Bordognian Fabric of the Universe together through better pitch, one note at a time."
Practicing results in increased atmospheric CO2 thus causing global warming.
The serial numbers on the 2J absolutely do not match up with the published Conn lists tying serial number to manufacturing date.
There are some threads with pretty detailed discussion of the history and manufacture of that model. Because TubeNet won't let me use "2J" as a search term, I'm having trouble finding them. Maybe somebody smarter than me can find and link them.
The likely reason for the lack of serial number lineage is that those tubas (as pictured) were made by the same folks who made the Olds/Reynolds (O-99 and virtually identical TB-10). The only difference being that the Olds/Reynolds factory put some "Conn-looking" bracing on those instruments, and yeah, some odd nickel touches.
Conn later (around the very end of the 70's, as I recall) started making their own tubas in this size range, but - in my opinion - the Olds/Reynolds-made Conn tubas (such as the one on the picture) are of better quality manufacture.
