Possibly a very RARE and nice find! (19th century)

[LucGeraats]

Dear Tubenetters, (And especially Dan )

I came across this tuba, and it blew my mind.

It has been used in the French army, so the story tells.
It looks to me as a very old Bohemian built tuba, from the 19th century. An an antiquarian told the previous owner it could date back to the 1820- ies, but since I know tuba's were patented in 1835 by Moritz, it could be one of the very first built tuba's around.

The engravement says: J.SRB VYS. MYTO
Tanslation: Josef SRB , Vysoke Myto ( town)

Edit: Vysoke Myto, is a Czech town in Bohemia! So it's for sure a Bohemian tuba.

I made some pictures, and I would love to hear what you Tubenetters could tell me about it.
Also one picture in comparison to the other modern tuba's I have.
I'm thinking of restoring the tuba, but I'm not sure if that's the best thing to do.

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/LucGe ... "></iframe>

http://s1175.photobucket.com/user/LucGe ... Old%20Tuba" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

Best wishes,

LG

[scottw]

How original do you think the spit key looks? That would be a huge dating tool if you feel it is original. Those keys came along during the 1880's according to my knowledge. Nice-looking horn! Congratulations, it is in great condition.

[LucGeraats]

It looks to be added on later, so that would mean pre-1880?

[bort]

I know nothing about super old tubas, but that's pretty damn cool. Museum-worthy!

[bisontuba]

Info:
Josef Srb, born 1875-died 1932
Was in business from 1900-1945, in 1932 succeeded by his widow.
Mark

[LucGeraats]

I've found that indeed, on Horn-u-copia.

That would mean that it's early 20 century. I think I'm going to ask the instruments museum is Brussels.

[PaulMaybery]

I would hope that "Langwills" would contain a listing of the makers name and location/s of manufacture along with dates. This might help somewhat with dating. I do not have access to a copy at the moment. Perhaps someone out there can reference this in the Langwill.

[bisontuba]

I would hope that "Langwills" would contain a listing of the makers name and location/s of manufacture along with dates. This might help somewhat with dating. I do not have access to a copy at the moment. Perhaps someone out there can reference this in the Langwill.

That is where my above info came from...

[PaulMaybery]

Thanks Mark!!!

[Dan Schultz]

I can't add any more details regarding the origin. Definitely an old tuba and it doesn't appear to be in bad shape. How does it play?

[Tom Coffey]

What key is it in?

[hubert]

Hello Luc,
Nice find.
As it is Bohemian, it would be helpfull to address Dr. Mario Weller of the Musikinstrumentenmuseum at Markneukirchen (through the Forum at the Museum's website) and Mr. Uwe Schneider at Chemnitz (his website: http://www.tubashop.de" target="_blank" target="_blank). Both are experts on Bohemian instruments. The latter one can help as well with restauration (good quality - very modest costs; he uses Czech craftsmen from Kraslice/Graslitz, as far as I know).
Hubert

[TheBerlinerTuba]

Hello LucGeraats,

Congrats on finding a nice piece of history. I've restored and seen many of this F Tuba design, and I'll try and give you a summary of what I've learned.

Tubas of this design were mostly produced from the 1860s to the end of World War I ca.1918. They were a standard issue Dienst (service) F tuba for the military windbands in Bohemia, so one would expect to encounter them in the modern Czech Republic, Austria, or the south of Germany. They were mostly 3 valves and small in size(compared to a modern F tuba), quite practical for a marching windband. Be aware that most of them were tuned to A 450Hz!
See the attached photo for how they looked when new(a larger 4 valve version). Bending that helicon bell must have been quite a sight!

IMG-20140604-WA0009.jpg

The vast majority of these tubas were made by Cerveny or from other makers using Cerveny parts and I believe your tuba is one such instrument. The shield with the name on the bell, is perhaps a dealer name or was installed after a serious repair or overhaul, as was common practice for the era.

As for dating the tuba, the valve and brace design plus what looks like an original waterkey, the year is probably between 1900-1914 rather than the 19th century.

Most of the earlier pre 1880 versions look more like this tuba with Wienerventile:

IMG-20140508-WA0004.jpg

If you do choose to restore the tuba, please keep in mind that it is not the same skill set as restoring a modern instrument and that not every shop is equipt to handle this kind of work. I'm always a bit sad when the customer brings me the instrument to be restored because the first shop's attempt was not successful.

Good luck and again, Congrats!
If you have any more questions, you can contact me off the board.

Best Regards from Berlin,
TheBerlinerTuba

PS Here anther one from ca1870 that just came in.

IMG_6524 (600x800).jpg

[Tom Coffey]

That is a very interesting history--thanks for the post and pictures!