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I am the new owner of these two models, previously owned by Jay Miles, who was a bass and tuba player in Maryland. The Conn 20J (I presume that's what it is, I can't find a model number on it) is from the mid-60's and the Olds I think is from about 1970.

Firstly I'm wondering if anybody here is a previous owner of either of these, as I'd like some history of them. The Conn came with its two cases, and the Olds had a blue Mirafone bag but I didn't get it.

For the 20J, what is the usual orientation of the recording bell? What's the best use of that instrument? It's a tank, and sounds great.

The O99 is incredibly easy to play. Both tubas seem to have excellent intonation and sound. But I'm not very experienced on tubas, I have only messed around with a York Monster Eb that I have.

I'd be interested to hear if you find the "3rd partial" F plays flat, the one right below the bass staff, on the 20J.

A 3V Olds was my first tuba, and the guy who sold it to me brought over a couple 20J beaters as well, but I've never played one. I do have a big Holton with a recording bell though, and I mostly crank it to an "up" position, if I want to hear myself; if I need others to hear me more than I need to hear myself, and it's outdoors, it goes forward.

I owned a 20J for many years and loved the sound, it has great presence and worked very well in large concert bands. I hauled it around in both wooden cases and that was okay until I had to face stairs and getting old. I sold it, replaced it with a B & S 101, and still miss it, but there's no chance I'm going back. A small dixieland group I'm in has an O-99, which I use regularly. It's an easy to play horn, good intonation, but really only for small groups or when I become totally stair-averse.

I can hardly imagine hauling those two cases around! But it sure sounds great.

Lee Stofer has said in the post below that he finds a 20J with no leaks to not need an alternate fingering for the F at the bottom of the staff(two posts- scroll up for the other one.):

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=72961&p=593435&hili ... 0J#p593930" target="_blank"

I have an 099-4 and like it very much. A playing partner has a 099 3v and can get a lot of sound out of it. About the only problems I see with these horns is that many of them have spent many years in a junior high band room. They are small and easy to handle and are pretty easy to play in tune. The John Packer clone of a Yamaha 103 (+ fourth valve) should play as well as an Olds 099-4 in good shape but the Olds might come in for a lot less as a used horn even if you have to pay some to get it squared away.

Doug,
For the big Conn, I always like to face the bell a bit to the right as opposed to straight-ahead, so as to avoid a direct assault on the conductor,
and to have good frontal vision. They are designed to be played with one Conn sousaphone tuning bit, unless someone has replaced the original
leadpipe with a longer one. If it has three valves it is a 20J (recording bell) or 21J (upright bell.) If it has four valves, it is a 24J (recording bell) or
25J (upright bell.) If it has front valves, you have a quite rare tuba. Please feel free to contact me with any questions about these.

The Olds O-99 is a potentially fabulous smaller BBb tuba that out-performs it's size, due to having many York-like qualities that make them very efficient.

Thanks, Lee. The Conn has 3 top valves so it is a 20J as I suspected. I guess they didn't put any of those identifying numbers on the horns, you're just supposed to know based on the configuration. Serial number H255xx puts it around 1966 I think, but the Conn serial number list isn't very clear to me.

They had sort of the same situation as your mouthpiece system - if you can find an upright bell for that thing, it becomes a 21J, so a 20J engraved on it would really only tell you that it was supposed to have a forward facing bell when it went down that line in the factory.

I'll second Lee Stofer on the need for one or two tuning bits. They were designed to be played with them. Playing without them and pulling the main tuning slide out causes the stereotypical weird partials that most people mention.

I have owned several Conn 20J and 25J tubas. I really love these tubas. They take a little work, but they are so much fun to play. I hope that you enjoy your Conn!

Hello,
Time to look up "Bloke's"
"Maximizing the Olds 0-99-4 ebay treasure BBb tubas""
Sun june 07 2009,
That is if it hasn't already been "maximized"
dave hayami

Doug Elliott wrote:I can hardly imagine hauling those two cases around! But it sure sounds great.

I used a hand truck and bungee cords to haul my 20J around In the cases. ( I quit using the cases, just too akward to handle) I usually have the bell facing forward since I use it for oompah music. Hard to beat the sound from the 2xj's. Definitely need the tuning bit as much for ergonomics of playing as well as helping with some wonky notes without it. I've had several 0-99's over the years. Sweet little horns with large sound for their size.

Is the Conn tuning bit something special? This horn didn't come with it and judging by how far out the slides were, it wasn't played with one. But it has pretty good intonation as is. 5th partial is a little flat, 2nd is sharp but that's probably me.

Its the same tuning bit used with Conn sousaphones. Can pick them up for 20-25 bucks each used.

I owned a 4-valve Olds O-99 a few years back. I wish I never would have sold it! Great sound, and it had the best pitch of any tuba I've owned. However, I did get the third valve tuning slide shortened a tad. I remember reading once that the 3-valve Olds O-99 was built with a little longer of a third valve slide (to bring 1+3 and 1+2+3 more into tune)...naturally that led to problems with the 2+3 combo. On the 4-valve model, they just slapped that fourth valve on and didn't shorten the third slide. Again, I read that somewhere...maybe someone here can confirm/deny that. Anyways, with shortening that third slide it played wonderfully! If I recall, Bloke is the one who recommended that I shorten that slide. Solid advice.

<EDIT>
In search, I found the following thread where Bloke explains this horn in more detail.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=33942" target="_blank" target="_blank
<EDIT>

I have 2 20J’s. One requires a bit, the other does not. Also both are stamped 20J on the body.

Where is it stamped?... So I know where to look... I haven't seen it.

Also what makes the difference between the one that requires a bit and the one that doesn't? I found an old beat up bit among my stuff but I haven't tried it yet.

Should be on the back of the bell and the tuba. I just looked and only 1 20J has the stamp...

To be specific... the 1956 has the stamp and the 1961 does not.

Doug Elliott wrote:Thanks, Lee. The Conn has 3 top valves so it is a 20J as I suspected. I guess they didn't put any of those identifying numbers on the horns, you're just supposed to know based on the configuration. Serial number H255xx puts it around 1966 I think, but the Conn serial number list isn't very clear to me.

It is not true that some of the Conns of this era were made by Olds? From research, I've assumed my Conn 2J was, and like others have gone to the Olds SN lists to place it @ 1968. The Conn SN lists place it in the early 1950s which seems out of line considering web knowledge about when 2Js were produced. Perhaps these vintage Conns are likewise made by Olds?