Bell rolling

[Chuck(G)]

Depending on the involvement of the garland, the price can vary considerably. Finding a repair shop and simply asking for an estimate is the best way to go. If you don't want to make the trip, take some photos and ask for an estimate.

That way's both fair to you and the repair techs on this list who may not want to quote prices for repair work sight unseen.

[UTTuba_09]

I just had my bell rolled out. Came out to about $45 dollars. Crinkle was about 2 inches wide.

[tubari]

I charge $70 no matter the damage. Check out Lundsford's Music there in Knoxville. I used to work there. If you are making a trip to Michigan....

[Chuck(G)]

I charge $70 no matter the damage. Check out Lundsford's Music there in Knoxville. I used to work there. If you are making a trip to Michigan....

Wow--I need you to straighten out some of my beat-to-crushed tinfoil 186 bells. Are you willing? I'll even take the bells off the horns...

[windshieldbug]

I was going to have the bell on my Miraphone 186 rolled out

I'll only charge you $5

[Dan Schultz]

I charge $70 no matter the damage. Check out Lundsford's Music there in Knoxville. I used to work there. If you are making a trip to Michigan....

Hmmm.... I should have sent you these...

[Leland]

Wow, I actually got kinda lucky with some of the bell rolling I used to do at work (meaning that it came out pretty well) -- maybe I should have charged money for it.

Seeing the quality here, though, my rates would've been about half. After all, "you get what you pay for".

[Steve Inman]

Bell rolling ... anything like cow tipping ... ?

Cheers,

[Chuck(G)]

7 X $70...

already off the horn...straighten/no buffing...hmm...$500...a good honest day's work

SEND 'em!

For $70 the each, Joe, I've a got a few "ripples" for you to clean up--'course they're not all this nice...



Typical public high school Miraphone bells...

[The Big Ben]

Had the pleasure of watching Dan Oberloh do an "econo-rollout" on my recording bell on Saturday afternoon.

To recap:

My horn is a King 2380 with recording bell. It looks pretty good overall but the bell had what looked like vandalism damage. It had dents in the sides and top of the bend and around the guard that they put in the bend. In addition, the rim was bent and it had a few wowies in the taper to the bell.

The horn was a great value at $430 and definately wasn't perfect but is presentable. It plays well. Dan and I thought that, while Dan could make it absolutely perfect, what was the point in making it look better than the entire rest of the horn and spend so much time and money to make it that way? Dan spent about 30-45 min. working it over. He used the dent machine, the dent rolling rod, a big dent ball and a plastic hammer on the granite table.

Man, I tell you, it was a pleasure to see Dan work that metal... Roll, roll, roll.... Tap, tap, tap, BANG!. Push, push, pull, pull GRUNT!....More roll, roll, roll... And on and on until the curves and lines looked really good. Speed, concentration, physical strength and experience made the day...

It fits great and looks great! It matches the horn and sounds great!(Dan tried it out right at the workbench. He's a good tuba player!) I have a King 2340 with cases that plays well and, all things considered, looks pretty darn good....for under $500. Yeah.....

Thanks, Dan!

Jeff "Got no excuses now" Benedict

[MaryAnn]

I'll only charge you $5

Is this a windshieldtuba?

Bad joke but I just couldn't resist.



MA

[The Big Ben]

I have a question rgearding bell rolling:

What do do when little cracks apper in the bell after having rolled them out?

I did such a job,first time in my life........., on a 50 year old Helmut Finke Tuba a few weeks ago,using the drum stick/broom stick method as there is no professional tooling to me and after polishing up that bell,for explanation the tuba was rescued from an attic after approximately 30 years of storage,I dihad to discover that there were little cracks at those areas where the bell was sharp cornered rinkled,is it possible to solder the cracks or should I leave them as they are at the moment,because they don´t affect the sound,in my opinion,the only affect the stand up abilitys (sorry,poor english) whilst the horn is standing on the bell .

Any comments apreciated,

regards from germany,
Kurt

Kurt:

Don't worry- your English is better than my German....

If cracks appear, generally, they are soldered. I believe the best sort is silver soldering and then grinding/sanding smooth. An inexperienced person applying heat to thin brass can cause problems such as burning right through, warping, etc. However, a person with experience can solder it up and shrink and reform the metal so that it is not visible. If you don't mind the possibility of ruining it but perhaps getting it fixed, you could give it a try yourself if you have the tools. If not, it might not be too expensive to have a professional work on your horn. You don't have to have it repaired to flawless if you don't want to pay that much money.

Personally, if it sounds fine, I would not bother soldering it at this time.

[windshieldbug]

I just couldn't resist

(And I just couldn't resist laughing. Thanks; I needed that!)