The one that got away...

[Dan Schultz]

.......
So, do you have a horn in your memory that you wish you still had?......

Well, noooooo.... but there was this little red-head in the eight grade

[Dylan King]

I have owned only four tubas, and now have two. I miss my first tuba the most. It was a 1970s Mirafone 185, that had previously been owned by a player in Colorado. My cousin, Lester Dropkin, picked out the horn and had it sent out to him for $2,000.

The horn was a Minick custom. It had tunning jiggers on the first and fifth valve slides, working both thumbs, and played perfectly in tune with the triggers engaged, which of course became a natural part of my playing. For many years I carried it to and from school in a duffle bag over my shoulder. I couldn't imagine doing something like that now.

I sold it in 1994 to help finance my Yorkbrunner and have missed it ever since. The only thing about the horn I didn't like was the small, 15" bell. The horn wouldn't sit on the bell unless it was leaning against a wall. I could never put it down diring performances or rehearsals.

That little horn did me good for a lot of years. You can here me playing it on some of the old Voyager CD ROM orchestra series, and I played it on the "In the Line of Fire" soundtrack. It was a bit of a pee-shooter for a tuba, but the thing could blow loud and clear.

[Carroll]

.......
little red-head in the the eight grade

Hey... isn't that against the law?

[Dan Schultz]

.......
little red-head in the the eight grade

Hey... isn't that against the law?

I guess it would be now.... but it certainly wasn't when I was in the eight grade

[windshieldbug]

Well, noooooo.... but there was this little red-head

Hey! Wait a minute! Who let Michael Jackson in here?!

[Joe Baker]

The trombone that got away: a Bach 36 that was stolen 25 years ago.

The tuba that got away: the Eb Conntinental Sousaphone I sold 7 or 8 years ago to another contributor to this board (want to sell it back for a 50% profit? Didn't think so... )
_________________________________
Joe Baker, who is planning to go out with a BIG ol' net next March or so, and make sure the the right one DOESN'T get away.

[Art Hovey]

Back in the '30's Bill Bell had a publicity photo of himself holding a Cerveny CC tuba that had a large bell but a rather thin and graceful body. The photo was just inside the cover of one of his method books, and my father had an autographed copy.
In 1966 I played on that tuba, recently overhauled, in Walter Sear's shop in Manhattan. I really liked the tuba, but I just didn't have the $500 that he wanted for it. One week later an unexpected retroactive paycheck arrived in the mail, for about $500. I called Walter immediately and learned that he had just crated it up and shipped it to a buyer in Georgia.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

So, do you have a horn in your memory that you wish you still had?

A sort of happy twist on the question:

I was lucky enough to trade with my old band director, an old King Eb sousaphone that I got off Ebay, for the same Bb King sousaphone that I first learned on, in high school, 30 years ago (GOOD GOD! Can it really be that LONG ago???).

[Lew]

I had a side action, 4 valve, Eb York Monster tuba a few years ago. I didn't play Eb at the time and wasn't planning to learn, so I sold it. Now that I have been playing Eb for a while I often think it would be nice to have that horn again. Even though I wasn't an Eb player, it had a nice sound, although not really a soloistic sound.

[Ricko]

I picked up a CC Cervany Piggy with the help of Sande MacMorran in 1983-84 that must have been a pick of the piggys. Terrific intonation, gorgeous tone - just an overall great horn.

During a dry spell in 1992 or 1993 I sold it to a young man from Oak Ridge (to help with the downpayment on a house for the new wife). Within a couple of years I started playing again and still can't find a horn (that I can afford) that worked as well for me as that one - I'm still paying stupid tax.

I wish I had kept track of the guys name who bought it so I could track him down and buy it back. Let's just say he got it for a song.

[Ricko]

If any of you know a young man in his late 20's or early 30's in East TN with a piggy for sale - let me know!

[tubeast]

I guess the mentioned stories give a reason why I chose not to sell any of my horns, even if I WERE short of money.
The MW46 cost about 6000 Deutschmarks 15 years ago.
That´ll be about 4000€ today, considering inflation.
It serves me real well, but with lots of dings and scratches (this horn has been everywhere and has seen a lot) there´s no way I could get that money back selling it now. The looks don´t alter the sound, though, so it serves me like a brandnew horn, and a good one.
So nowadays, when I see anything I´d like but can´t afford that may be in the 4K-€-range, I just wait until I saved that money instead of selling stuff that I value.
When I got the PT20, I was tempted to sell the F, but just for a few days. Each of the two adds certain qualities the other won´t have, so the set of the two has greater value to me than the sum of the two individuals.

I would sell any of my horns in exchange for a better one, though, once I figure that it´s the instrument that limits my playing.
Not being a pro and knowing the way I play, I just know this won´t happen.

[Tom]

I've owned a few tubas...some I don't miss at all and others I'd love to have back...

I'd love to buy back the first tuba I ever bought...a Canadaian Brass CB-50 from its current owner David Fedderly. He's playing it as one of his 4/4 CCs in Baltimore these days...it was a fantastic tuba. It isn't the same one as the one that is for sale on his site. I sold it to buy "bigger, better, louder, faster, higher" tuba and sometimes think that maybe I should have just kept it.

I also traded off a B&S F for a Rudy Meinl 5/4 CC that I wouldn't mind having back. It was a big 4 rotor CC that I got from David Graves and it played really well. I ended up selling it shortly after I got it in order to buy another F tuba though, and don't regret that decision.

I really like what I have now, but I'd love to have those two back, especially the CB-50.

[Chuck Jackson]

I wish I had my first Alexander back. My Mom helped me buy it in 1976 for the ungodly sum of $900.00 from Paul Destito. It was a BBb with conversion pipes to CC. It had been owned by Chester Roberts and was used on all the big works with Cleveland during the Szell years, including the great recording of Prokofiev's 5th. It played with a rich sound, had quirky intonation, and was HUGE. I sold it in 1980 to Don Harry. I wish I could find it and buy it back, if for nothing else but as memory of my Mom.

Chuck

[chronolith]

MW2155 in silver plate - looked and played like a MW2000! Sold it for financial reasons. Student at Temple U has it now.

[TubaSteve]

Well, I don't know if this one counts, but one horn that I would really want back was one that was never really mine. It was a school horn that I played on in High School. It was a Reynolds Contempora Recording bass that had been just overhauled. It was in perfect condition and for me a beginner, it was just beautiful and I was in awe of it's beautiful laquer. I was so discouraged when I graduated when I had to return the horn and leave it in the hands of those that didn't share my concern for it. To this day, I still want to have one like it.
Steve

[MaryAnn]

MW2155 in silver plate - looked and played like a MW2000! Sold it for financial reasons. Student at Temple U has it now.

How does a MW 2000 play?

MA

[chronolith]

MW2155 in silver plate - looked and played like a MW2000! Sold it for financial reasons. Student at Temple U has it now.

How does a MW 2000 play?

MA

I'm sure there is a certain amount of discussion on these horns in the archives, but I guess you could describe in the most general type of response as the difference between a quirky factory horn and a horn that was built by hand. My 2155 didn't have the typical tuning problems of some of the 2155's out there. Even all the way up and down. The kind of horn you could play for a lifetime with care. Responsive with little effort. I was VERY sorry to have to get rid of it

[Lew]

MW2155 in silver plate - looked and played like a MW2000! Sold it for financial reasons. Student at Temple U has it now.

How does a MW 2000 play?

MA

You blow into it and move the valve buttons up and down.
(Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Another horn I thought of that I miss was my first tuba in High School. It was a 3 valve compensating Besson BBb. I didn't own it, but I was the first person to play it. It's probably trashed by now, and it's probably just my fuzzy memory of over 30 years ago, but I remember it having the sweetest sound of any tuba I had played, or have played since.