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my Alexander tuba

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 5:54 pm
by Mark E. Chachich
My Alexander 163 is 30 years old this month (I am the original owner). After playing a tuba for this many years you really get to know it.

:D

Mark

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 7:16 pm
by Tubaryan12
Mark,
I don't think in my 42 years I have kept anything for 30 years that is not directly connected to me :shock: I'm going to have to go to Mom's house to check the attic to make sure :lol:

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 8:28 pm
by Chuck(G)
Anyone interested in picking up a 163 BBb of about the same age? I'm thinking of selling mine.

Re: my Alexander tuba

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:14 pm
by Dylan King
Mark E. Chachich wrote:My Alexander 163 is 30 years old this month (I am the original owner). After playing a tuba for this many years you really get to know it.

Mark
Do you call him AL?

Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 11:39 pm
by tubatooter1940
I have owned my 1940 King for only two years but we feel like a team.
I bought my 1960 Gibson 330 slim hollowbody guitar in 1968.This guitar has since been my axe.It will always be my axe for electric gigs.When I die I will leave it to a promising picker.I want my tuba buried with me.
Dennis Gray
www.johnreno.com/

Re: my Alexander tuba

Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2005 12:29 am
by Kevin Hendrick
Mark E. Chachich wrote:My Alexander 163 is 30 years old this month (I am the original owner). After playing a tuba for this many years you really get to know it.

:D

Mark
Congratulations, Mark! :D

I know exactly what you mean -- I got my Sear-Cerveny kaiser CC 31 years ago this month (purchased new from Walter Sear). It's nice to know just what the horn will (and won't) do in any situation ... and there isn't much it won't do ("fit into my car's trunk" is about the only thing that comes to mind :wink: ). I've used it for everything from solos and Dixie gigs to orchestras and (currently) a 115-member concert band.

Happy birthday to your Alex, and best wishes for many more! 8)

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 10:18 am
by Mark E. Chachich
Thank you for the birthday wishes for my Alex. I am going to celebrate with a toast to my tuba with tuica (Romanian plum brandy).

noroc, sanatate! (typical Romanian toast, translation: good luck, good health)

Mark

Re: my Alexander tuba

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 10:52 am
by ThomasDodd
Kevin Hendrick wrote:and there isn't much it won't do ("fit into my car's trunk" is about the only thing that comes to mind :wink: ).
You need to get a bigger trunk :)
Image

Pull out the spare and they ain't much that won't fit.

Re: my Alexander tuba

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 1:03 pm
by Kevin Hendrick
ThomasDodd wrote:
Kevin Hendrick wrote:and there isn't much it won't do ("fit into my car's trunk" is about the only thing that comes to mind :wink: ).
You need to get a bigger trunk :)
Image

Pull out the spare and they ain't much that won't fit.
Good advice! However, "long" and "wide" isn't the problem -- it settles down into the trunk just fine (even with the spare in place), but the lid won't close (too shallow ... it comes down to about an inch-and-a-half from the latch and stops at the bell). What I need is another station wagon (had an Escort wagon for a while, and my horn fit into the back of it as though it had been made to go there) ... 8)

Re: my Alexander tuba

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 8:51 pm
by poomshanka
Kevin Hendrick wrote:Good advice! However, "long" and "wide" isn't the problem -- it settles down into the trunk just fine (even with the spare in place), but the lid won't close (too shallow ... it comes down to about an inch-and-a-half from the latch and stops at the bell). What I need is another station wagon (had an Escort wagon for a while, and my horn fit into the back of it as though it had been made to go there) ... 8)
Perhaps this might be the way to go...

Image

Re: my Alexander tuba

Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 10:51 pm
by Kevin Hendrick
poomshanka wrote:
Kevin Hendrick wrote:Good advice! However, "long" and "wide" isn't the problem -- it settles down into the trunk just fine (even with the spare in place), but the lid won't close (too shallow ... it comes down to about an inch-and-a-half from the latch and stops at the bell). What I need is another station wagon (had an Escort wagon for a while, and my horn fit into the back of it as though it had been made to go there) ... 8)
Perhaps this might be the way to go...

Image
Perfect! Just the thing for re-hearse-als and such ... :wink:

Re: my Alexander tuba

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:01 am
by poomshanka
Kevin Hendrick wrote:Perfect! Just the thing for re-hearse-als and such ... :wink:
You see, that's why we're such a good team - I set it up, you take it down!!

Ba-dum-bump!!

:lol:

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:20 am
by Mark E. Chachich
tuba4sissies wrote:Mark ,, i was kidding about the clean freak thing ,, i know that is a foreign language and it looked like sanitary so i made up a joke. lol ,, gosh old geezers take things to serious

:roll: :wink:
Actually, I found it funny. I just put the translation for clarification. Keep playing and enjoying the tuba!

Mark

Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 11:52 am
by Jobey Wilson
It sure is easy to fall in love with a vintage Alexander. I bought Lee Hipp's 1969-72 Alex in November 1996, and fall deeper in love with her every day. I put a new leadpipe & one of the new, larger 18" bells on her about 2 years ago (yes, another airline incident), and she came out of surgery a much stronger, in-tune lady. Unbelievable...no more typical "Alexander fingerings" necessary, and she now has a little wider, more "Americanized" sound.