A few months back I acquired a Gronitz 4/4 BBb tuba with thoughts of doing a play condition overhaul and flipping it. Today I sat down and played it for a while and have decided to keep it.
Are there any Gronitz experts in the peanut gallery who might be able to give me information about this horn? I e-mailed Gronitz over a month ago and have received no reply. It is a 4/4 BBb tuba with a graduated bore of 18.5mm - 19.5mm. It is as "point and shoot" as are my King12xx/23xx tubas but with a much richer and more expressive voice.
Any hints about vintage and model will be greatly appreciated.
American sailboats, airplanes, banjos, guitars and flutes ...
Italian motorcycles and cars ...
German cameras and tubas ...
Life is Good.
At any rate, it's a "BZ" something... "B" is for the key (BBb) and "Z" is for the valve type (Zylinderventil = rotary valves).
Should be a very nice tuba, and very rare. I forget the entire story, but the owners of Gronitz retired and sold the company recently (or something like that). I think it will be relocating elsewhere in Germany and resuming production eventually... but that's why you aren't getting an email reply from them.
At any rate, it's a "BZ" something... "B" is for the key (BBb) and "Z" is for the valve type (Zylinderventil = rotary valves).
Should be a very nice tuba, and very rare. I forget the entire story, but the owners of Gronitz retired and sold the company recently (or something like that). I think it will be relocating elsewhere in Germany and resuming production eventually... but that's why you aren't getting an email reply from them.
Thank you for the information on the status of the company!
Yes, the BZ 126 was as close as I could find in their current offerings but mine has no kranz, slightly smaller bores and clockspring/S-link actuators. It is indeed a very nice tuba, I've been working on mastering F tubas and so was not paying it much attention. Today playing it for a while convinced me that it should stay with me. LOL
Thanks again.
American sailboats, airplanes, banjos, guitars and flutes ...
Italian motorcycles and cars ...
German cameras and tubas ...
Life is Good.
Gronitz in Hamburg has ended its activities. It was taken over by Andreas Klingspor, Freiburg (Germany).
Contact: info@klingspor-brass.de" target="_blank; phone +49-761-2088424.
I think to remember, that this was earlier mentioned on this forum.
Hubert
