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Hello all. I recently bought an old York Master Tuba from another guy on here. Really cool horn. I want to get it working at its best, so I need some tips. What I plan to do so far:

A friend of mine suggested an acid bath would make it look and sound better. It appears that the felts on the valves are the wrong sizes, almost as if the valves won't close all the way. So I guess new ones are gonna be needed. A bell holder screw latch came off. I have the latch and screw, so that should be a simple matter of just reattaching it. And finally, the lead pipe is bent upwards, which puts it at an odd playing angle. I was planning on getting that set back to normal.

I need a good horn tech in the Roanoke-Salem region in VA. My friend has one he knows, but I wanted to see if any of ya'll knew of anyone.

Also, any other generic tips for "restoring" (I use quotes because the horn already plays...) a horn like this one? Or anyone know of any good York sites or folks to talk to? I'm new to TubeNet, so I'll get some before and after photos up eventually, but for anyone who's interested in helping me learn more about this horn, her serial number is 68306. I used http://www.musictrader.com/york.html to deduce that it's probably a '21, '22 or '23 model. All I have is that serial number and the lettering "York Master" on the back of the bell.

Thanks in advance!

Anyone want to explain the York-York Master difference?

fpoon wrote:Anyone want to explain the York-York Master difference?

Mike, look in your email.

For others, York Master was the label used by the York Band Instrument Company for instruments imported from Germany after WWII. They were made by Boehm and Meinl. York made only student lines in Grand Rapids after 1940 when they were bought by Carl Fischer. They were available up through the early 70's, long after the York factory in Michigan was bankrupt. York Master tubas are good tubas, but not the same as the mythical Grand Rapids Yorks.

York Master serial numbers are even worse than real York serial numbers in determining dates. Nobody now knows what serial number system B&M used.

Rick "who just sent Mike a long response to his email" Denney

Thanks Rick for explaining all of that.

Anyone else have any generic tips on getting this horn in better shape?

And just for clarification, it's a York Master, not a York.