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This looks interesting and rare:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alexander-Mainz-F-B ... 720wt_1037


I have nothing to do with this. I do not see how it is Bb/F though.

That sure is a lot of tubing out back!

When something is rare, there's usually a pretty good reason why they only made one.

rodgeman wrote:I do not see how it is Bb/F though.

It is like a double french horn with two sets of tubing - an F and BBb side.

If that is like the one formerly played in the Berlin Philharmonic, then I am sorry, was not impressed by its tone and projection. Surely a separate F and Kaiser BBb is better set-up!

BIN US $8,280.00

*rotflmao*

rodgeman wrote:This looks interesting and rare:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alexander-Mainz-F-B ... 720wt_1037


I have nothing to do with this. I do not see how it is Bb/F though.

Wouldn't that be the same principle as a double French horn?

I am planning a trip to Bulgaria surrounded by a crew of Blackwater operatives just to bring this puppy home!

cjk wrote:BIN US $8,280.00

*rotflmao*

OBO

There is one of those here in town and although it looks like a repairman's nightmare it plays Really well.I suspect they were/are very expensive but to be able to do everything on one horn seems attractive. It would be nice to try to master one horn and take auditions and not schlep two horns around. And not take up half of the pit on those kind of jobs. Ed

EdFirth wrote:to be able to do everything on one horn seems attractive. It would be nice to try to master one horn and take auditions and not schlep two horns around. And not take up half of the pit on those kind of jobs.

A 3+1 compensated Eb such as the Besson 981 does that quite well too as many British tubists will testify

EdFirth wrote:There is one of those here in town and although it looks like a repairman's nightmare it plays Really well.I suspect they were/are very expensive but to be able to do everything on one horn seems attractive. It would be nice to try to master one horn and take auditions and not schlep two horns around. And not take up half of the pit on those kind of jobs. Ed

The craftsmanship looks wonderful. Wonder how heavy it is? Is it worth $8500? If the seller can get it, I guess it is.

Sorta-kinda related, I guess...

I remember when Meinl Weston had a double tuba they took to shows.

It was probably built in the early 90s (???) and was on the show circuit for years. Everyone thought it was "interesting" and the craftsmanship was outstanding but nobody was interested enough to buy. After some years MW quit taking it out to shows, but it reappeared in the early 2000s in their show booths, before eventually ending up posted for sale for more than a year at Dillon Music.

As I recall that one sold for c. $5,000 but it took a LONG time to get it done. I suspect the owner has it around as more of a collectable than a player or that it was eventually taken apart for the valve set, bell, or bows.

This Alexander is definately interesting, but I wouldn't gamble $8,000+ on it and then have to deal with the mess of shipping it from Bulgaria. I'm always amazed at the horns this seller brings to market.

I really don't mean to offend the Alexander fans.

That tuba (an Alexander model 166) looks like it has been beaten then mostly straightened out. The bell has obviously been crunched and repaired. There are a couple of nickel silver pieces soldered over contact points near the thumb ring and for the left hand. I have to wonder if there is something hiding under the one for the left hand as it's soldered over the guards. All the guards have waves in them and the bell rim is pretty scarred up. It looks like the fixer couldn't have been bothered to (or wasn't being paid enough to) fix it right.

Every time I've photographed a tuba, it's always looked *better* in pictures than it did in real life. Pictures hide a lot of flaws.

There really isn't any way to judge the condition of the valves, so I'd have to assume they're shot.

I would expect the valve action on one of these to be quite lousy because the rotors are heavy due to their being twice as tall as normal.

It is likely a somewhat decent F tuba but a lousy BBb (or CC, whatever the second 'key' is). If one expects this to have a better low C, even on the other 'side', one might be disappointed.

I think it would be a neat tuba to play around with for a couple of weeks but only if I could give it back when I'm done.

I've seen normal Alexander F tubas (model 155) in known good mechanical shape selling for well under $5k in recent months.

So, I see a super high price and a lot of risk, not even counting the cost of international shipping and potential damage that it could acquire along the way.

The model 166 may not be listed in Alexander's current catalog, but I expect you can probably order a NEW one of these from Alexander. The tuba body is the same as their normal F tuba. Tony Clements had a new one just a few years ago on his lowbrasswerks site.

It might be interesting at 1/4 to 1/3 of the price listed, but at the current price, it's laughable IMHO.