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Dear Tuba players,

I recently came across an old tuba, but i'm not sure what brand it is. My primary guess is that it's a Alexander, or another Eastern German tuba. Evenso I can't date it.

Can somebody help me out? Would it be a Tuba to overhaul?

Greetings,

LG

Could be. However... I would learn toward B & S.

I don't think it's an Alexander. Like Dan said, I think it seems more like it's an older B&S instrument, possibly from the Weltklang line.

I also agree with Dan, I do not think that this is an Alexander. My reason is that every Alexander tuba that I have seen (in person or photographs) had a bell garland engraved with Alexander (e.g. Gebr. Alexander or something similar). The oldest Alexander tubas that I have seen (pre 1910 or so) also have a medallion.

best,
Mark

Thanks! It seems to be a nicely built horn.
I'm still thinking of buying it.

Even if it's only for the preservation of these instruments.

What I do know from the buyer, that it's an old Stasie (Eastern German intelligance) band instrument. It coud be any eastern brand.

Ooh, that's kind of an interesting angle. In the US, wonder what kind of tubas the CIA liked for their band? Something with not much volume but lots of projection?

Hallo LucGeraats,

From the photos and history provided, I would agree with the collegues here on it being a B&S/Weltklang Model 103, the exception being the non B&S thumbring. However to be sure, measure the inner bore on one of the valve slides. A B&S will usually be around 19mm, whereas the Alexander 163 would be approx 20,50mm. A fine tuba regardless.

Best regards from Berlin,
TheBerlinerTuba

Please provide much higher resolution details of all the flanges and of the valve section.

From what I can see in the low resolution photo, B&S is not the likely maker.

Klaus

LucGeraats wrote:What I do know from the buyer, that it's an old Stasie (Eastern German intelligance) band instrument. It coud be any eastern brand.

That being the case, and since the lyre socket backplate we can see is the squashed-cloverleaf shape, I'll say B&S too. The thumb ring might have been replaced at some point. Another B&S clue might be a serial number stamped into the mouthpiece receiver, though not all B&S tubas had this.

Some B&S horns were configured a lot like Alexanders, which can cause some confusion. If it is a B&S, it's still a good tuba.

I'm going to see it tomorrow, i'll keep you posted.

Donn wrote:Ooh, that's kind of an interesting angle. In the US, wonder what kind of tubas the CIA liked for their band? Something with not much volume but lots of projection?

Big fiberglass sousaphones. In flat black.

Seems to be alot of work on it. But the sound was great, looks like a handmade tuba. I'm cleaning it now, and will show you the results when I'm done.

LucGeraats wrote:Seems to be alot of work on it. But the sound was great, looks like a handmade tuba. I'm cleaning it now, and will show you the results when I'm done.

See if Czech is engraved on the receiver.

Hi Dan,

There are no engravements at all. The only ones I can find are numbers: In the rotors "12", at the receiver "2" . And with the peddles also "12".

Greatings,

LG

The inner-bore of the tuning slide is 20.5mm. Bore of the rest of the slides is 19mm.

I've sent a mail to Alexander with my findings.

LucGeraats wrote:The inner-bore of the tuning slide is 20.5mm. Bore of the rest of the slides is 19mm.

I've sent a mail to Alexander with my findings.

19mm = B & S. Here's an image of a tuba that's identical except for the style of rotor levers. It's badged 'Gerhard Schneider' and was made by B & S. There are LOTS of model 101 tubas out there and I've never met a bad playing one.

Done, and really happy with it! Sounds even better as I thought!!

http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/LucGe ... brary/Tuba" target="_blank

LucGeraats wrote:Done, and really happy with it! Sounds even better as I thought!!

It Luc's Geraat!

(It Looks Great!)

Terrible joke, I'm sorry. What a cool looking tuba!