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King "Pit" model Tuba.
king Raincatcher sousaphone.

The things I would do for those two horns...

Front action American BAT's. I don't know what Martins and Holtons cost when new but I'd like to think they'd be favorably priced today. Or at least had more made when they were made, making more available.
Several one-offs- like big bore front action euphs, Eb contrabones,...

A 6/4 or nearly 6/4 tuba with a great low register, big fat sound with lots of color and character, and nearly perfect intonation.
(Pick a couple, but was there ever a horn made that left the factory ALL of the above?)

This:

My Martin is close to that ideal, I pull 3 for Gb, and 1 for 1-4 bottom Eb, but that's it. Sound...to me, exactly what I want with either bell, and different with each bell.

"I don't know what Martins and Holtons cost when new but I'd like to think they'd be favorably priced today. Or at least had more made when they were made, making more available."

Martins were a premium make back in the day and they were quite pricey. A top-action 3-valve BBb Martin went for about $800.00 ca. 1940. You could buy a new car for that amount at the time. And not that many tubas were made, especially in the side-action 4 configuration. I believe that these were actually made to order. I've been told that the Martin factory had a "reference model" of every instrument that they made, so when an order for a side-action 4 valve BBb tuba came in they might have said, "Build one like that one over there." I can attest to the fact that, while the top-action 3 valved Martin tubas are always identical, the side action 4s (pre-war ones, at least) are always a little different, (bends in valve tubing, size of tuning slide crooks, etc). The actual production numbers for side-action BBb Martins were probably very small indeed.

Although I already have a pretty nice collection of tubas..... I'm currently lusting after a Rudolph Meinl große Kaisertuba 6/4 BBb.

TubaTinker wrote:(sorry... I don't have the German characters on my computer to make the proper model name!)

große Kaisertuba, 6/4 Größe

There ya go, Dan. You can insert that into your post. Now you know how to ask for two of 'em: one fer you und one für mich.

If not the 6/4 RM, I'll humbly take a Nirschl copy of the B&F BB Kaisertuba, please. I'm fascinated by that horn, especially since there doesn't appear to be one in existence in this hemisphere.

OTOH, am I the only tubist in Chicago (thanks to Floyd Cooley) who doesn't have a Nirschl York CC (besides the big guy who has the two York originals)? Yeah, my 4/4 Nirschl CC is a great horn, but as any owner of the 6/4 will tell ya, they're sooo nice...

In the meantime, I'm very grateful to my friend who has loaned me his 6/4 Neptune, albeit temporarily.

Melton 2260RA... Wish I had the money.
EDIT: It is way too expensive for me so it basically belongs here, to explain myself posting it.

I'll second the vote for the contrabass trumpet.

KiltieTuba wrote:this is a thread about instruments that either aren't made anymore, are too expensive to be had made the way you want it, or are simply not made at all.

With those criteria, I feel very lucky to be the owner of a Conn 48K.

Steve Marcus wrote: OTOH, am I the only tubist in Chicago (thanks to Floyd Cooley) who doesn't have a Nirschl York CC (besides the big guy who has the two York originals)? Yeah, my 4/4 Nirschl CC is a great horn, but as any owner of the 6/4 will tell ya, they're sooo nice...

I don't, but whatever.

That Conn F tuba that never saw the production line might have been cool to play.

KiltieTuba wrote:

k001k47 wrote:That Conn F tuba that never saw the production line might have been cool to play.

Is this the Conn you're talking about?

Yep, it has the same funky 4th and 5th valve designs as the 5xj, but it's still an interesting looking horn.

A decent 4/4 4-valve BBb Conn with the standard .734 valve set.

A tuba that gives me an unlimited amount of wishes with no restrictions.

A minty 1860 over the shoulder Eb DROOOOOLLLLL

brassbow wrote:A minty 1860 over the shoulder Eb DROOOOOLLLLL

Eric Totman has a really great OTS eb for sale. Fantastic player! Much better than I expected

I have seen them but do not have 7000 at the moment.

iiipopes wrote:A decent 4/4 4-valve BBb Conn with the standard .734 valve set.

Two words:
Donna
Telly