great grandpa's BAT

[Gongadin]

No, but you bought a pair of shoes on eBay. They have wings on them.

[TheHatTuba]

Here's the Martin helicon that was on there a while ago

Wow.

[SousaSaver]

I have seen that Tuba before. I nearly bought it from an auction a few months ago.

Since I don't pull the purse strings where I work, "we" didn't buy it.

Aw man....

[Tom Coffey]

How much did that helicon sell for?

[imperialbari]

These valves could have been imported from Cerveny.

There are some rather rare rotary valves where the bottom cap is soldered on. The top cap on the stop arm side then can be screwed off. Looks like a more complicated solution only chosen for special situations of lacking access for the bottom caps.

Klaus

[Dan Schultz]

These valves could have been imported from Cerveny.

There are some rather rare rotary valves where the bottom cap is soldered on. The top cap on the stop arm side then can be screwed off. Looks like a more complicated solution only chosen for special situations of lacking access for the bottom caps.

Klaus

Nirschl used a 'front-loading' rotary valve as the fifth valve on his piston tubas that were built by Bohm & Meinl.

[Gongadin]

How much did that helicon sell for?

Helicon had a BIN of $1600, and was purchased by ML.
One valve was broken, and the instrument needed other work done to it as well.

[Tom Coffey]

How much did that helicon sell for?

Helicon had a BIN of $1600, and was purchased by ML.
One valve was broken, and the instrument needed other work done to it as well.

Thank you for answering my question. And, wow--such a beautiful horn for that price, even needing a little work. I'll bet it will be a while before we see something like that again!

[Mtrhed]

It's all MINE!
I've never ventured into this section of Tubenet before. Lots of good discussions on the odd-balls out there. The big Martin in question is now in my possession. I was at an open house for my kids school and checked to see what this horn sold for. I was surprised to see there was still just under a minute left in the auction. I decided to put in a bid while waving at the kids on the swings. I was shocked this didn't go for more. The seller said the horn came out of an estate in the Sandusky OH area. The story he was given was that the recently deceased owner was said to have been a very talented player in his youth but that he wasn't a pro. The horn is in very good shape for it's age and I can see no signs of repair. When I got the horn I took it from the Fedex terminal directly to pops orchestra practice. Nobody gave the horn a second glance till after the first number was over. After this a trumpet player raised his hand to comment on the sound to the whole group. Even some violin player came back to ask about the horn during break. The horn rewards you with a huge sound for very little air. Lower register stuff just falls out of the horn with no effort. My upper range was never the best and it's a bit more work to play the stuff toward the top of the staff then the 1241/2341 King I usually play with this group. I think someone with a better lip could do better then me in this area. The horn plays in tune pretty well but this horn there seems to be less tolerant with face-mistakes then other horns I've played. If you want the note spot-on your lip better nail it. The valves seem pretty good, maybe a little sticky. They improved as the evening progressed. I plan on using this horn primarily for performances and will work hard to keep it nice and orignal for as long as possible. I need to p/u another horn from Oberloh's this weekend and might take the Martin up there to get his opinion on the valves. The case is pretty tired out and offers no padding to the horn. I'm a big believer in hard cases and would love to find someone who can make a new fitted case for this horn. I like the ATA cases but these are hard to fit in the trunk of my full-sized car. Another thing I need to do is find a good cleaning product for the finish. My hands we're pretty black with tarnish when practice was over. If anybody has any info on Martins of this style or old catalog photos please let me know.

[imperialbari]

Congratulations!

Which doesn’t prevent me from disagreeing with you on two matters.

I very much think rehearsal and performance instruments should be the same. Not only for your own sake, but also for those who adapt their playing to your bass-line.

Your case may be tired, but it has the right structure for the instrument. Wouldn’t it really be worthwhile working on its interior and exterior shortcomings?

Klaus

[Mtrhed]

The case does fit the horn but there's no padding and no "Crush Zone" between the case and the horn. In my perfect world I'd like to get a case that's 2-3 inches bigger in all dimensions. This way I could get some padding around the horn and have a buffer zone between the horn and case if something horrible happens. The horn rattles in the case a bit right now. I'm dealing with this but want a better case to start with.
I'm not using the horn at every practice. Its survived this long in good shape so I won't subject it to day to day use outside the house. I plan on playing it at the last couple practices and dress rehearsal before a performance.

[Mtrhed]

I've sent dimensions to Anvil Case to start a dialogue about a tapered case for this horn. I feel Anvil's stuff is the industry standard for ATA type cases. They're spendy but they're the only company that does ATA cases I've found that will even discuss doing a tapered case.
I've also spoken with Bruce at Hybrid Case. Hybrid won't do a tapered case but I think the Hybrid stuff will be half the price if not lower then Anvils. I have the deminsions for what Hybrid recommends and will try and build a mock-up out of a cardboard appliance box to see if I can get it to fit how I need it to in my car trunk before I go any further. I'd really like get a case that fits the horn and still fits in the trunk of my full-sized Mercury. I'll even be willing to go to a space saver spare tire for the extra room. I'd like to avoid having to buy a mini-truck to haul my tubas. I'm just not a mini-van or SUV guy. I'll try and take some photos as I embark on this adventure. I've looked around on Tubenet and haven't found much on people exploring hard case options for odd sized horns.

[Mtrhed]

CK,
Let me know if you ever make it to Oregon. I'd be happy to let you make some noise with it. It's a blast to play!

[Lew]

A few years ago I would have definitely bid on this, but recently I have been thinning the herd to only those things that I play with some regularity. I love the body on the old 6/4 Martins like this one. I suspect, as someone else said, that this is a one of a kind, or certainly one of very few ever made. I am curious as to how the valves open. It looks like they open only from the side to which the linkage attaches in the back, but it would be interesting to see how that works if you could post some photos, or maybe Dan can post some photos if he has some time with it. Congratulations on an interesting find and enjoy it.