An old dog

[Ken Crawford]

Back in 1962, my father traveled to Mainz and picked up his new Alexander 164 5 valve BBb, made completely of German/Nickel silver. It can produce a great sound and it is a beautiful horn aesthetically. It has sat virtually unused from about 1964 to now. He gave up on tuba at about that time and had to get "a real job." While it does have a wonderful tonal quality to it, it is a dog to play. Response is difficult, intonation is challenging.

My question is, can anything be done, in terms of modifications to make this a good player. I don't know what makes one example of a model a dog while another seemingly identical tuba "a good one." Are slide length modifications, bracing changes, lead pipe modification and stuff like that feasible? Is there some voodoo that can be massaged into the metal that might make this horn great to play? I'd be willing to spend some money.

I'd love to have a horn that sounds as good as this one be a playable BBb orchestral horn option.

[Ken Crawford]

It does have a huge receiver. A Euro shank mp falls in and barely catches.

[shinytuba7]

Would love to see some pictures if you can post them. Sounds like a really cool instrument.