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Doc, how tall is that tuba? It looks huge!

Also, I think the tuba is playing and responding well, because you have chosen a mug of beer as lubricant for the valves. Clearly, you know how to give that tuba what it needs.

(And a big +1 for Bob Tucci!)

Hello Doc,

congrats on your new Kaiser BBb tuba! If you don't mind, could you post a few close up photos of your tuba? Especially the bracing and the valves.

Would there happen to be a serial number on the receiver or somewhere on the bell?

I suspect there is a misunderstanding about the history of this tuba and I have asked my colleague who worked at B&S from the 1960s to 1980s in the tuba making department and in fact he most likely built most of your tuba. So you are getting it directly from the horse's mouth.

These Weltklang/B&S Kaisers were made between the 1960s until the early to mid 1980s. In total the production was around 70 instruments. The entire tuba was made in house in Klingenthal, nothing in Czechoslovakia.

He is very happy the tuba has gone to a good home and will be used as it should. Your thumb ring seems to not be original and perhaps that might be why Geilert thinks the tuba was Czech made.

The instrument dealer Klein in Koblenz still exists and they would often order B&S tubas and sell them under their house name, similar to the chinese companies and their various dealers these days. At B&S in the DDR/GDR times, they would engrave whatever name you wanted on the bell.

Oddly enough by chance I have an identical tuba sitting next to me...

Doc wrote:Me and my large new-to-me (but very old) addition to the family...

IMG_8968_4_11.jpg

Hello Doc,

Here's a list of mouthpieces that work well with most German kaiser tubas.

http://www.whf-mouthpieces.at/
most of Windhagers big BBb pieces are great

https://www.mundstueckbau-tilz.de/
Tilz Hilgers B1 or B2 which i used for many years

https://www.schmidt-brass.de/englisch/index.htm
If you got the dough, the WH-B2 is one of my favorites and is my current piece.

Robert Tucci RT-88 is great as well

I know colleagues like Daniel Ridder who have their own custom pieces from J. Klier that sound fantastic but I dont have much experience with them.

Regarding the serial number, if its not on the bell or the receiver then is long gone;)

The one in my shop right now is here on consignment. I also have one I am restoring at the moment for myself. They are good horns, but they tend to vary a bit. They are extremely sensitive to setup but once dialed in, will keep up with any modern BBb.

So, what do these sell for, ballpark?

I meant the older kaiser b flats

Doc wrote:
Sorry, Mike.

The ones I’ve seen were €1800-3500. I don’t know how much a really nice pre-WWII Bohland & Fuchs would be (rare as best I can tell), but I’d guess they would be considerably more expensive. I’ve seen the Cerveny and Amati copies of the B&F in the €2000-4000 range. My experience is certainly limited. BerlinerTuba could likely offer much more info.

Mine was 300eur off ebay about 10 years ago...it's pre WWI apparently.
It resides in Berlin currently for restoration by theBerlinerTuba

Hello Doc,
Thank you for posting detailed photos. I've finally had a look through and I have to change what I said earlier.
The design of the valve block is such, that it's highly likely your tuba was made sometime in the 1930s. This means your tuba is not a Weltklang or B&S rather something much older although it looks very similar.
If possible, I would like to see a picture of the valve bearing plate under the valve cap?