Potential
Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 10:02 am
Looks to me like this horn has the potential to be a good all-purpose (or most-purposes) horn. Sure would be comforting to know a little more about it, though.
I have one of these exact horns. The bore is .687", the bell 19 1/4" dia. It plays like the King 2341 I had back in high school--rich tone, and a surprisingly big sound for the bore size, agile, responsive.
Walter Sear is a respected sound engineer whose studio has been open for 50 years in NYC. He went to one of the name music institutes--Curtis, if I recall correctly--and was the tubist in the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra.
He designed a number of tubas and had them made in Europe. This particular horn is considered by some to be his best effort. Mahillion and Cerveny also built horns to his design from what I have read. One source states that his designs are the basis for the best of Cerveny's horns still and that he pretty well saved Cerveny at one point through his import business to the U.S.
Hope this helps.