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Hey all,

So the bell on my 12J is an absolute mess.

It has been crumpled in many ways on many occasions (before I bought it) and the previous owner has already filled in some of the cracks that have formed(and reopened in some spots) as the bell has been repaired, and crumpled again.

Now i'm an amateur brass tech as well, so I've got it rolled back to a very rough approximation of in shape, but I'm wondering if anybody has a bent up (but not torn) bell that they wouldn't mind selling!

It wouldn't have to be perfect by any means, but i feel like my efforts would feel much more rewarding with a tuba that has no rips in the brass!

Any input on this kind of project would also be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Rob

Bump! Anyone? I should be able to use any of the 18" Conn bells if I'm not mistaken?

The donor bell wouldn't have to be perfect by any means, but as long as its not ripped/torn I should be able to work out almost any other kind of damage with satisfactory (enough for my purposes) results.

Thanks again,

Rob

Contact Dan Schultz (TubaTinker on the board). He built me a replacement for my Bach tuba I owned a few years back.

Thanks for the lead! I pm'd him a little while ago! hopefully he's got a beater lying around (with no rips) that can work!
There are several models that have this same 18 in bell so I'm thinking that might up my odds if he's got a personal shop inventory.

Any advice on whether I should go for a detachable bell mod or just a regular chop and swap?

roburt3 wrote:Thanks for the lead! I pm'd him a little while ago! hopefully he's got a beater lying around (with no rips) that can work!
There are several models that have this same 18 in bell so I'm thinking that might up my odds if he's got a personal shop inventory.

Any advice on whether I should go for a detachable bell mod or just a regular chop and swap?

Here is the response I sent to you via PM so others with the same problem can see:

"I think the bell you need shares specifications with LOTS of other student tubas. Therein lies the problem.... most have been damaged from years of school use and there just don't seem to be many 'survivors'.

Conn 4J, 10J, 12J, & 15J bells (also Olds 0-99 and Bach 869)
12 1/2" circumference - 3.98" (101mm) small end
25 1/2" (647.7mm) overall length
17 1/2" (445.5mm) flare

I don't think I have anything here at the moment that will work for you. As one other poster mentioned... I've been known to put a different flare on a genuine bell stack. In this case... just cut a flare from another bell and cut your existing stack so there is about a 1/4" overlap for a solder joint. Not original equipment nor extremely pretty... but functional."

Thank you so much for the response Dan. I appreciate your insight!

I have an old holton (yamaha Ybb103 stencil) Parts horn with a bell I could probably use, but the laquor on that horn has a darker tint than the 12J. The bell diameter is also only 16in, giving it a much less drastic taper. I really like the 18 in bell, particularly on these Conn ones with the very pronounced taper; so I think for now I'd prefer to practice on it as is for a while rather than attempt to swap in the smaller one.
I still have some a dent near the bow that I'm working on along with a couple solders, stuck slides, and some cleaning; so I'll have a little while before I need to decide whether to fix the bell and keep it, or flip it as is.

If you do happen to find one lying around, feel free to shoot me a message with your price!
Thanks again!
Rob

Here's a photo of the bell Dan made for me many years ago with a stack/flare combination:



I don't think the Yamaha/Holton stack would fit the bottom bow. My bet is that the Yamaha bell would be too small for that joint, but that's just going off of my own memory. You can certainly get a piece of string and see if it would fit.

Here's the thread it came from: Frankentuba

It looks like he did a beautiful job with your horn!

The Yamaha/Holton bell stack would definitely be too small for the 12J. Its a 3/4 horn with a 16in bell and the 12J is a 4/4 if I'm not mistaken and 18in.

If I were to try and use it (I'm definitely not going to) I would have to cut it at the flare (in close to the same spot as yours), and make some kind of ferrule/connecting joint like yours as well. I imagine that with the different flare geometries, this would shorten the length of the bell a fair bit. I would have to smooth the tapers together at the joint too, which I bet would be tricky.

I'll have to keep my ear to the ground and see if I get lucky with an 18in bell, otherwise I'll probably sell it once I've got it looking as good as possible and put the money towards another horn to make my personal tuba. I've got one lead that I'm following up on for a decently priced 10J bell(which would be an exact match), but there's also a fair chance that might not pan out.

Eventually I want to keep fixing/flipping until I can finance an old 6/4 Conn or king 4v BBb thats in much better shape than the horns I'm used to brining back to life! But something about baby steps etc... Haha!

I really like the silver flare on yours; you don't see two tone tubas too often!

Sorry, I misread your other post. I thought you were looking to use the Yamaha stack instead of the flare, my bad!

I sold that horn to a student several years ago. I did the fix/flip thing for a while too, now I play on the King/Holton combo you see in my avatar (also spruced up by Dan Schultz). It's a great horn!

Bump. Im still looking if anyone comes across a bell that might work!