TubeNet

First, let me introduce myself, I am Bram, 29, from The Netherlands and I just joined this nice forum after a few weeks of lurking. I recently joined a local community band after 7 years away from making "serious" music. The past 7 years I have only been playing in a "carnaval" band in my hometown, not sure what to call it in English but we only play in a short season during "carnaval" its not too serious (mostly loud ) and involves lots of fun, weird clothes and large amounts of beer

Anyway... after picking up the tuba again in a more serious way and reading on this forum a lot about old tuba's, I took a closer look at my "carnaval"-tuba, and its in pretty bad shape.... I had a few accidents with it the past few years and it had some, really bad, emergency repairs so that I could continue The rotary valves are still working smooth and all the slides are well... sliding but some tubes, especially the leadpipe and 3rd valve tubing are badly damaged. Do you guys think this BBb tuba is worth repairing? I was thinking about making project out of it and doing it myself, with no time pressure this time I only need it again starting November, so time enough.

I'm sure you all like photo's, so here you go:




Ouch...


Nasty repairs....





New York Symphonie on the bell


but... made in East Germany!

Can you guys tell me a bit more about this tuba? How old do you think this one is?
and is it worth repairing? for the intented use it doesn't have to be perfect at all, just better then it is now

I'm no expert but if the valves are working well, and the slides are working as you say, I would think it would be worth having it over hauled. I probably wouldn't do anything with the finish if it was my horn but getting the dents removed, and some of the bad soldering repairs redone seems like it would be worth the investment. I would at least take it in to a shop and have them give you and estimate of the repairs. Comparing the cost of the repairs to purchasing a comparable horn in better condition I think you'll decide it would be worth getting it fixed up.

If the problems are only what can be seen from the pictures ... as you know, that leadpipe is not good, and I bet fixing only that will make it play far better. That might be about the hardest part, though - I guess you just drag steel "balls" through it of increasing diameter until it's all round again, but I suspect that's easier said than done. I wonder if any factory leadpipe would make a suitable replacement?

The wrinkly brass on the bell-end of the bottom bow is the scariest part to me. That old, thin, and brittle to me.

Since you're using this tuba casually, and infrequently, you might consider just repairing or replacing just the lead pipe and third valve problems. The wrinkle just below the bell probably won't affect the playability. The bell wrinkle could probably be rolled out OK. The horn will play much better with that lead pipe fixed and the third valve stuff should definitely be repaired.

If you're not concerned much about appearance, you'd get a good playable horn with those repairs. You can leave the others as a mark of hard use, I guess.

CA Transplant wrote:You can leave the others as a mark of hard use, I guess.

I like to think of these as marks of distinction. An inferior tuba will look like new, because it has been laying around, not played much since the day it was made. Seriously, for the sake of appearances I would be sorry to have to appear in public with a shiny, undented tuba.

Thanks for the replies.
Good to know I didn't "abuse" some kind of special tuba

If I will repair it its is only going to be the leadpipe and 3rd valve, the rest of the dents are not really a problem for me. I was kinda playing the idea to put a recording style bell on it. Would that be possible or will I then ruin the sound?

(what I acctually need for the intented use is a Sousaphone... )

I agree with Bloke and Donn. Repair it to playable condition, enjoy the tuba for what it is and have fun with it! Also, I think that my tuba section would like carnaval band gigs!

enjoy your tuba,
Mark

Yea, maybe best not to go to crazy...
better save the money and get a nice sousaphone at some point to replace it

My comment had nothing to do with replacing the tuba. Put a bit of money in the tuba and use it for hazardous duty. If you want a tuba to do safer gigs, that is another story.

best,
Mark

by "not to crazy" I meant putting on a recording bell
I actually took off the leadpipe and 3rd valve tubing yesterday, so... the project has started!