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I posted a WTB for an upright bell for an Olds or Reynolds (I have one of each) 3v tuba. They both have recording bells at the moment.
The current bells are interchangeable (6 1/2" tenon). I didn't get any responses in the WTB ad so I thought I needed to understand the possibilities more. I'm pretty sure that there was an upright bell option for these tubas. Didn't anyone buy one?

What other makes and models might work? Any advice for finding a bell for one of these? Where do I look? The goal is mostly visuals driven, the horn may be used in a 1800s band and the recording bells look way wrong. Any suggestions for modifying or....making one (I do know that that sounds ridiculous but I might as well ask)
It seems that many people are looking for upright bells for various horns in the WTB/Seeking section. I wonder if in 25 years there will be as many folks looking for recording bells.

They made them. Most of them were the tall stovepipe looking bells. I THINK King 1240/1241 or King 2340/2341 old style upright bells had the 6 1/2" tenon. I could be mistaken but I'm pretty sure they were the same size. Maybe someone who owns one on this board could measure their tenon and post it on here. If they are the same size you may have a better chance finding one of those, but the bells hardly ever come up for sale by themselves. You may have a better chance finding an old king complete tuba with upright bell for sale and you could use the bell from that, and keep the body or sell it.
Another option.. Kanstul makes upright bells for the big Conn's, I'm sure they could make you one that would fit your horn. They are somewhere around $1100-$1300 last time I checked. Again, it would be cheaper to find an old king/Reynolds tuba with an upright bell already and buy the whole package deal. Search far and wide! Good luck.

Thanks folks,
I was hoping for the unlikely; someone has one of these bells sitting in the shed and it needs to go!
I will add King 2340/2341to my searches.

bloke wrote:

wrms wrote:Thanks folks,
I was hoping for the unlikely; someone has one of these bells sitting in the shed and it needs to go!
I will add King 2340/2341to my searches.

I'm not going out to measure, but I'm pretty sure that a King male bell tenon is too small to fit a Reynolds body...and the King bell is also too short for A=440.

If I misunderstood your statement, please disregard my post.

Joe is correct. Tried putting my king bell on my Reynolds. Is a good 1/2 inch too small. The upright Reynolds/Olds bells are harder to find than the 2xj uprights. Good luck.

Oh well. I have 8 tuba types (sousaphone, Helicon and Tuba both Eb and Bb) in my house at the moment and I'm a trumpet player! (Don't ask about the number of trpt/cornets there are).
I'm trying to be able to provide a horn to players interested in playing in a 1800s brass band. The older instruments that I have (a 1911 Holton Helicon and a Conn Eb Helicon) needs valves rebuilt or is in Eb. I will continue to try to maneuver my way into a tuba (or two) that I can loan out to willing players.
Thanks for the help,

Mark

Just my two cent's worth - I've only had one of those bells ever come through my shop, about ten years ago. They are quite long, and I suspect that anything else would not fit/play correctly. And, a mid-20th-century Olds/Reynolds BBb bass is nothing like a latter-1800's tuba. The standard at that time was 3-valve Eb bass saxhorns or tubas.

If you are interested in having one custom made I could take some pictures and measure my Reynolds bell so you could have the correct length. They are looooong.

There is a whole horn with an upright bell on Craigslist in Kansas for a decent price. https://kansascity.craigslist.org/msg/d ... 43452.html" target="_blank" target="_blank Keep the bell. put one of your recording bells on it, flip it. Cheap upright bell.

Bloke is correct. A King bell tenon is too small for the Olds/Reynolds bell receiver. The Olds/Reynolds tenon is 6.585" dia. as opposed to 6.250" dia. for the King.

Other than having a tenon custom made... your only resource is to sacrifice a bell from a tuba or sousaphone to get the tenon.

The upright bells for those horns are sort of goofy looking. The stack has straight taper leading into a connecting ring and then the flare. I've built upright bells for those horns but I don't like to.