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Has anyone played the Conn rotary BAT at Baltimore Brass? If so how did it sound and how were the valves?

I played it 2 years ago -- it was dreadful. Perhaps it has been worked on since then, but at the time, I couldn't play anything that even closely resembled tuba playing (not like "oh, the intonation was off", I mean like, the notes just simply didn't work). It sounded like I had never in my life played the tuba before.

Except low BBb, which was the most enormous and satisfying low BBb you can imagine. So, it seems like there's probably some issue with the valves (air leaks, or something... maybe fixable?). Or, maybe I'm just a terrible tuba player!

I don't remember it being that bad- noisy valve links were my biggest complaint.

Could be the valves need replating, as bort says. I had that done on my Alex, which is older than that Conn, and what a difference!

Well, it was 2 years ago, so maybe things have been fixed since then.

Best bet, call David Fedderly. He won't lie to you about it, and you'll get a good sense of what it is and isn't.

I contacted Baltimore Brass and they said that it does have a fair amount of leaking in the valves.

I really wanted this one to work out and be worth it for me. Maybe it can he made to work... but suppose you replate the valves, and then still end up with a so-so tuba?

The few old Conn CC rotary tubas weren't great either. Warren Deck sounded amazing on it, but said it was difficult to play. If he thought it was difficult... then I stand no chance.

All to say... money seems spent better elsewhere, if looking for a daily use rotary tuba.

Hi all!
Just a few notes on the tuba in question. It does indeed have a fair bit of leaking through the valves. All other aspects of the horn are mechanically sound though. This horn is here on consignment and the customer has chosen to sell it in its current condition as a valve job is not inexpensive.That being said, it is an interesting horn and is really priced with a collector or enthusiast in mind. Should somebody wish to put some money into it to get the valves in better shape it certainly has potential to be a nice playing horn but without that investment we can not say for sure. We did clean it and do some minor service for the Army workshop last year though.
Hope this helps anybody who may have interest in the horn! Any other specific questions can be directed to our shop tuba specialist at kody@baltimorebrass.net" target="_blank

-Baltimore Brass Co.