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Picked this us recently I assume it's a Knoth because there is no makers name anywhere on the horn, the bell is a little malformed but it's about 15 inches, the tuba is about 40 inches tall. Anyone want to share what they think about the origins of this horn?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xmose664q6v34 ... 6.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank" target="_blank

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xmose664q6v34 ... 6.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank" target="_blank

https://www.dropbox.com/s/knjjsag682802 ... 3.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank" target="_blank

https://www.dropbox.com/s/komr8vt4v7xho ... 9.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank


https://www.dropbox.com/s/rycv4a4mzvfs6 ... 1.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hwj7d0ya738ua ... 3.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tv4rurvzmmpal ... 5.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5zrlxzfabi1xc ... 4.jpg?dl=0" target="_blank

I don't have a clue what 'Knoth' means but that horn was made by B & S.

Nice find!

By Knoth I'm talking about Kurt Knoth who I believe was involved with B&S, but I'm not sure, which is why I was looking for some more experienced info! Thanks btw!

http://simonettitubacollection.com/inst ... -6-rotary/" target="_blank this is the horn I was thinking it was.

Hallo EMC,

This tuba was more likely made by Knopf, not B&S or Kurt Knoth.
Knopf was famous in Markneukirchen for their excellent double horns. They were essentially neighbors to Knoth hence the family resemblance, but it's a different design. Usually Knopf has squared off braces while the Knoth's are more often pointed(although sometimes Knots are squared off). Also Knopf's bell was slightly shorter with a fatter stack. Usually the brace between the 5th valve tubing and the bell is only on Knopf. I wonder if some of the engraving can still be found inside the bell?

There were some VEB (mid 1950s pre B&S) F tubas that were made in this style, but they tend to be completely brass without nickel silver slides and ferrels)

A horn like this Knopf was played for many years in the Dresdner Staatskappel.

Best regards from Berlin,
TheBerlinerTuba

Hello and thanks for the insight Berlinertuba, I wasn't able to find any other engravings on the bell but I did add some more pictures and I found some kind of stamp on the side of the bell, something like a makers stamp. It's a "C" and then some kind of Asian kanji i don't know if this is the manufacturers doing or someone else's doing.
By the way this little tuba plays fantastically, I can tell the springs are probably going to give out soon, but I definitely don't regret picking this one up.

How does it play? How is the pitch? Low range around low C?
Mark

EMC wrote:It's a "C" and then some kind of Asian kanji

To me, it looks like the number 49 stamped in reverse. Is there any trace of it on the inside of the bell?
Pete

ppalan wrote:

EMC wrote:It's a "C" and then some kind of Asian kanji

To me, it looks like the number 49 stamped in reverse. Is there any trace of it on the inside of the bell?
Pete

You're right, I guess it is a 49. But nope no trace of it on the inside .

Neat! Where did you find it?

bisontuba wrote:How does it play? How is the pitch? Low range around low C?
Mark

It plays great! Easily one of the best F Tubas I've ever played. It slots very easy and doesn't fight you for low register notes. The tone is somewhere in between an Alexander and a Meinl Weston, very bold and thick but not as dark and smooth as an Alex. Intonation isn't bad at all, low C is in tune but still has the typical growl sound that doesn't center well, B below that is sharp but is in tune with 4 and 6, the A below that is a bit flat but nothing horrific, the only other thing is middle C which can be very sharp if you don't place it just right. Everything else is either on or "close enough" which is better than the firebird I used to have so I can't complain there, the pedals are quite impressive for such a small tuba particularly pedal F which bellows out awesomely. The sound itself seems to break rather quickly though probably because of three small bore which I haven't measured yet but the small end looks smaller than my bill bell.

Sorry to bump this thread, but as good as this horn is, its rotors have apparently been taking a beating, the springs are mangled and shorted , and not as fast as they need to be. Could one of you direct me toward a website or other source of spring, and maybe also direct me towards some kind of walk through of how to put the new springs on correctly?