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proam wrote:If this is a pawn shop selling a random grab-and-run item, how did they know enough about it to list it as a “vintage rare” item? Their father had it for years???

I’m certainly not at all saying I don’t believe your story. I’m just saying it seems more elaborate and detailed and knowledgable than I would have expected under the circumstances.

Sorry, I don't see this purported "elaborate and detailed knowledge" you refer to.

"Vintage" in ebay-speak is roughly 25 years. Nirschl bought B&M around 1992, so for the purposes of ebay listings, anything older than that qualifies as "vintage."

Personally, I find a lot about the Ebay listing "interesting" and "curious" (adjectives carefully chosen from among the various possible alternatives) on several levels.

Under "Item Specifics", for example, the seller lists the brand as "Unbranded," and the finish as "Chrome Plated." Not the sort of mistake one would expect from a knowledgeable seller, especially since the brand and finish are listed in the auction title.

As to the identification, it's kind of hard to miss the "Bohm & Meinl," "Geretsried," "Germany," and "5520C" on the bell engraving. The fact that the listing omits important details like the "&" from the brand name and "C" from the model doesn't exactly scream "attention to detail."

The seller also fails to note that it's a CC (suggesting that the seller doesn't realize the significance of the "C" in the model number engraved on the bell), and the it's a 5-banger (suggesting that the seller doesn't realize that the 5th valve is not factory stock): not exactly details that someone with passing familiarity with B&M 5520s would overlook or be likely to omit.

So, nope: not elaborate, detailed, or knowledgeable.

It's also "curious" (in my opinion) that the delivery was limited to local pickup only. Granted, there are legitimate reason not to want to ship a tuba; nevertheless, I find it difficult to believe that the demand for B-M tubas in and around Chicago is such that a seller could limit delivery options to local pickup and still maximize his or her potential profit. For that matter, why sell it locally through a merchant account on Ebay at all since in-state transactions incur an additional 9% in sales tax on top of the ~10% in ebay seller fees: why not sell it through a personal account or—better yet—on Craigslist instead and save yourself the ebay seller fees?

So, "interesting" and "curious": yes; "elaborate, detailed and knowledgable": not so much.

You can also see in the last photo ( which was taken first) that the tuba bell is resting upon the bubble wrap that I used to cushion it within the gig bag upon packing. The valve spring were also removed and packed individually in a box so that the stems would'nt be damaged, and you can see that they were not put back in valves 2-4.

As for news on this tuba, it looks like this story may soon be coming to a close. I am very lucky to have had the help of my father and of the buyer.

When I had issues with Greyhound,I went right to the head of the shipping division.
I ended up with the National manager of GPX trying to find my horn.. Here is his email if you want to try and see if he can help.

Drew.Klepper@greyhound.com" target="_blank" target="_blank

I am happy to report this instrument is safe and sound with its new owner. Although... whatever **** stole it threw away the springs (stored severately in a box, with the valves taped down) and damaged the valve guides enough to need replacing. I'm working on getting this whole ordeal compensated/refunded by greyhound, and will likely update once more. I hope that my (and the buyer's) miserable experience will at the very least be a helpful resource for anyone else who ends up in our position.
Thanks again to the help from those who assisted in searching for the instrument.

GREAT

.

When shipping Greyhound, ship to major terminals only. Try to find through-routes, that way the item is not offloaded but only has a point A to B trip.

If you ship from one small town to another the chances for something bad to happen increase dramatically. Shipping Greyhound is still a nail biter under the best of conditions.