tuba bell repairability

[imperialbari]

http://www.chisham.com/tips/bbs/sep2001 ... 71565.html

Klaus

[Chuck(G)]

A friend of mine recently had a tuba pretty badly damaged in the bell

It's hard to say without seeing the damage.

You'd be amazed at what can be done with a damaged bell--holes and tears are the hardest to repair, but even they can be dealt with. The issue is more one of cost due to labor.

Will it be cheaper to restore the bell or purchase a replacement? Severe damage will mean that the instrument will need to be refinished and that alone is a big expense. I'm assuming that the costs of repair are being covered by insurance, so the insurance company may simply want to "total" the instrument rather than spend more than the instrument is worth repairing it.

Will the instrument sound the same again? Hard to say--it has happened that after a tuba has been taken to pieces and damage worked out and reassembled that the result actually plays better than the original.