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Thanks Hal I also got a notification from a followed search on EBay. After seeing all the early digital interest and reading the history of these, I jumped on this as these smaller American C tubas don't seem to show up too often. Olds built I think, should be sturdy. Plan to put it to use in quintet and church settings. Really hoping to get a gem, but we'll see, you never know. Dig the distressed look too, just fine by me. One variable is that it's shipped Fedex, but the seller seems to know what he or she is doing (we've all heard that before) so I've got my fingers crossed......

I have dealt with this seller before. He is a great dude and deals in a lot of older tubas like this. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

arpthark wrote:I have dealt with this seller before. He is a great dude and deals in a lot of older tubas like this. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thanks man, appreciate the feedback!

Tampaworth wrote:

arpthark wrote:I have dealt with this seller before. He is a great dude and deals in a lot of older tubas like this. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thanks man, appreciate the feedback!

They're fun smaller tubas; nice round tubby sound. I remember thinking it's perfect for playing the meistersinger tuba and bass "solo". (an excerpt that people are probably tired of hearing me beat to the ground, yet somehow still manage to screw up) Using a sellmansberger symphony gave it a little extra "bass". I'm not sure if the one you bought has a longer 4th valve, but Harvey had it designed to be played as a three valve horn with an auxiliary 4th valve to be used when playing in the low range; intonation was better - for me - when I approached it with this mindset.

k001k47 wrote: They're fun smaller tubas; nice round tubby sound. I remember thinking it's perfect for playing the meistersinger tuba and bass "solo". (an excerpt that people are probably tired of hearing me beat to the ground, yet somehow still manage to screw up) Using a sellmansberger symphony gave it a little extra "bass". I'm not sure if the one you bought has a longer 4th valve, but Harvey had it designed to be played as a three valve horn with an auxiliary 4th valve to be used when playing in the low range; intonation was better - for me - when I approached it with this mindset.

Coming tomorrow FedEx. Looking forward and prepared to do some professional reconditioning if need be for functionality. I've got a Symphony MP so that may be just the ticket and I'll keep your mindset in mind. Thanks!

My university had a couple of these. They all tended to be a little flat-natured and I will echo k001k47's point about the fourth valve slide being long. I think it had a fairly long pull, as well.

The 2J came today without any shipping damage or issues. As advertised, valves were way slow and binding. The bell has a bit of a crease from prior dent rolling out and a patch on the bottom bow, but again as advertised. Valve condition and compression is amazingly good. I've done valve guide replacement on my Besson NS and Round Stamp Sovereign euphoniums with plastic guides, and the brass guides on this horn are the exact same design. Did some basic stuff with guide alignment and minor edge filing, assorted felts from my collection, and lubrication. Oh yeah, and interestingly the bottom and top valve caps were reversed. Voila..... now smooth and pretty quiet valve action. I'll work to refine it, in time, now that it's playable. I've got a borescope and can work the vertical alignment, but really it doesn't seem like I need to just yet.

For those of you who have played one of these, I feel privileged to now have one of these horns. With the 4th slide all the way in, low D and G are in tune using 4. They're pretty well in tune with 1,3 as well. The crazy thing about this horn is how easy it plays, sort of like playing a euphonium. Slurring, slotting, etc. things that are more challenging on a larger bore horn take much less effort. With the Sellmansberger Symphony MP, a bit more in your face and less mellow than my other horns, but sweet sounding and very controllable. I'm glad to work back to a horn of this size rather than to have started on it. It's a blast to play for sure and will definitely get played out and about. Even Pedal C, B, and Bb pop out like nobody's business!

I Keep the 4th pulled way out and just use it primarily for low f along with long 1st slide pull(1+4). Pretty much play everything else as a 3 valve. My 1st and 3rd slides move very well. Horn is easy to play for sure. My bass tuba substitute at the moment.

Congratulations on your acquisition, and welcome to the club - I really enjoy mine, especially since Lee Stofer vented the valves and new delrin valve guides were installed. I also had mine cyrogenically treated. These horns can put out a really nice sound.

Thanks Dave! The more I play my 2j, the more I understand the attraction and the mindset put forth by others in this thread. This is a great compact CC design and I'm lucky to have found one for the price. The valves are in excellent condition with decent compression and the horn, bracing, etc is overall quite sound down to the brass valve guides which are pretty quiet for now. The appearance is certainly worthy of a surface restoration, but not mandatory as this is a great player. Just like my 1909 Helicon that I bought from bisontuba (shout out) a few years back which I haven't restored and continue to play out on occasion with a local Church Orchestra. Another great find, that instrument is capable of so much with loads of character. Playing both with a Sellmansberger Symphony.