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Just in case anyone was wanting to get a 20j (they're quite beautiful horns, ya know). I was perusing ebay instead of working and found this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Conn-20J-concer ... 338b37525e" target="_blank

So, the horn looks nice, but notice the valves: They are NOT short action...oh why? Because the guides are missing. Notice the mark for alignment and how OFF it is.

I see in the other pictures, that part of the valve guides are there, but they don't appear to be doing their job if you look at the valves when assembled.

Yes. The horn looks nice, but it appears that a HUGE mistake has been made on the rebuild of the horn.

58mark wrote:... I'm not seeing what the problem is. Looks like a beautiful horn to me (expensive, but beautiful)

Ditto. It was probably reworked by Borodi Music and just a different Ebay sell has it posted instead of Nikki Borodi. They do descent finish work.

This:



It's missing the felts that keep the valves aligned. That slight notch in the valve stem should not be visible. Where on earth are the ports of those valves in this picture?

So, you do see it now, yes? I would have posted earlier, but I was at rehearsal.

The valves are not properly aligned and something's missing. I'm not trying to throw out any red herrings (or blue ones for that matter). I just don't want to see anyone get burned on ebay for a tuba. I love the 20j's but that one looked super suspicious right away. The valve stems are far too high to be functional. Maybe you'd just have to get the pads placed on it again, who knows? Nevertheless, if you're going to go through the effort to overhaul the horn, polish it up, then put it on ebay to sell it, make sure it's correctly displayed. I say this because someone burned me once, hiding defects in a horn by propping it up ever so cunningly.

Anyhoo, if the seller can get the valves back in line, sure, it's a great horn.

I played mine tonight, and I'll do so tomorrow night!

bloke wrote: I certainly would not be the least interested of having anyone of any stature "play test" an instrument for me
as any sort of factor as my decision to purchase or not.

No need for play testing.

Just rely on this from the seller:

Seller Notes: “Best tuba ever made!!!!”

bloke wrote:"sturdy"...

...raises eyebrows when someone is offering...

- to sell you a musical instrument
- to fix you up with a blind date

Is that the definition of a "play date" !?

Perhaps these terms mean that the instrument will not only look nice, but play nice too?

Overhaul, Rebuild, Restore or Recondition


Merriam-Webster definition of "Refurbish" to brighten or freshen up

WAIT A MINUTE!!!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Conn-20J-concer ... 1364755065" target="_blank
Here is another 20J sold by the same eBay seller in Feb. and the corks ARE installed properly.
It's possible that he just assembled it for pictures before he was finished with the valves?

It is fun to joke about this listing. But... what I really see here is a situation where someone said "it's not quite ready but go ahead and get some quick pictures and get it listed".

TubaTinker wrote:It is fun to joke about this listing. But... what I really see here is a situation where someone said "it's not quite ready but go ahead and get some quick pictures and get it listed".

Just sayin it's a possibility Dan. Judging from the photos from the 20J he sold in Feb. he obviously knows
that the corks & felts have to be there for proper port alignment. Do I think it was a good idea to list these photos?
Obviously not

TubaMusikMann wrote:

TubaTinker wrote:It is fun to joke about this listing. But... what I really see here is a situation where someone said "it's not quite ready but go ahead and get some quick pictures and get it listed".

Just sayin it's a possibility Dan. Judging from the photos from the 20J he sold in Feb. he obviously knows
that the corks & felts have to be there for proper port alignment. Do I think it was a good idea to list these photos?
Obviously not

Oh... it really doesn't matter much to me. Some guys deserve to get 'roasted' but I also think that there are some folks on The Forum who spend waaay too much time trying to find stuff wrong with about anything that is said.

These valves have the oval ports that the short action valves have and the off-center valve stems that all 2XJ's have. No other instrument manufacturer had tuba valves with similar valves ports and similar stem placement.

The valves are not shown assembled or complete but I believe they are 20J valves.