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Hello! I have a Grand Rapid Band Instrument Company Tuba currently in my possession from a family friend. It's a 3 valve and silver plated. It's tarnished and has quite a few dents in it but nothing major from what I can see. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this company, it's quality of instruments, and what this instrument might be worth? The serial number is 1987x. I can provide pictures if needed.

poppinfresh wrote:Hello! I have a Grand Rapid Band Instrument Company Tuba currently in my possession from a family friend. It's a 3 valve and silver plated. It's tarnished and has quite a few dents in it but nothing major from what I can see. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this company, it's quality of instruments, and what this instrument might be worth? The serial number is 1987x. I can provide pictures if needed.

Do post a few pictures. Value varies depending on configuration and condition. When you take some pictures, take the valves out of the casings and lay them out on a cloth so the condition of the valve surfaces can be seen. This is pretty important in judging a horn. Taking pictures of the slides out of the horn is less important and not really necessary. It is important to know that the slides are able to move, though.

With the help of a few people, I was able to figure out a few things (I'm a woodwind guy so I know very little about Tubas). It is a BBb Tuba. The bell size is 19 1/4'' and the bore size is .656.

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A high reserve auction with a low starting price will tell you more. If the reserve is, say, $5000, which would be waaaay high for this instrument, and the highest the bidding in a 7 day auction was $500, you have a pretty good idea that you could get about $500 in an auction designed to sell the instrument. Looking at values of completed Ebay auctions might also give you an idea of worth.

The Big Ben wrote:A high reserve auction with a low starting price will tell you more. If the reserve is, say, $5000, which would be waaaay high for this instrument, and the highest the bidding in a 7 day auction was $500, you have a pretty good idea that you could get about $500 in an auction designed to sell the instrument. Looking at values of completed Ebay auctions might also give you an idea of worth.

Um, I don't want to spoil the fun, but isn't setting an artificial reserve a violation of Ebay selling policies?