Tuba Repairman of the Year Award

Eric B · Post by **Eric B** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:06 am

Who would like to nominate a worthy individual for Tuba Repairman of the Year and why?

I nominate Joe "Bloke" Sellmansberger of Mid South Music.

I purchased a Weril H980S from him several weeks ago. It arrived undamaged but the slides and valves were unbelievably dry. They were shipped directly from his distributor in Florida. He was quick to reply to every question I had and gave me instructions on hand lapping the valves and slides. The advice worked beautifully for the valves...they are very fast. Unfortunately, the main and 4th slides were not well aligned.

Here's why I nominate Joe:

Bloke lives in Memphis, his daughter lives in Dallas and I'm in Texarkana. He picked up my horn on the way to see his daughter. (I'll let Joe mention the occasion if he chooses to.) He returned it to me on his return trip. I am very happy with all of my slides now and extremely happy with the service I received from Joe. He didn't accept payment for the work he did either. I will definately call on him in the future for repair and custom work.

An instrument in Joe's hands is as a block of marble in Michelangelo's, a basketball in Jordan's, and a blank music score in Beethoven's.

The movie industry has the Oscar, the music industry has the Grammy, and TV has the Emmy. What should the repair industry call their award?

eupher61 · Post by **eupher61** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:21 am

the "Whammy"'s, based on another thread...

MikeMason · Post by **MikeMason** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 9:44 am

We are fortunate to have several people of that level of character/skill in the service and sales of tubas in the US.Lee Stofer was that guy for me while he was in Atlanta.I have also had A+++ experiences with Baltimore Brass and Tubadome and trust them completely.There seem to be only 1 or 2 we have to "beware" of...

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 1:40 pm

Bloke has given me superlative advice about the practical aspects of choosing tubas and such.

Dan Schultz has performed superlative necessary mods for my detachable bell "Franken-186" to get it playable in tune with itself and an ensemble.

Matt @ Dillons, along with Vladimir, have set me up with great advice and a great mouthpiece modified to my personal needs.

Roger Lewis has gone out of his way to help me with the transition from piston instruments to rotary.

I have not had the pleasure of working with the other gentlemen mentioned in the forum. Maybe I'll be privileged with the opportunity some day.

Rick Denney · Post by **Rick Denney** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 2:12 pm

Yes, we are fortunate. We have a range of expert technicians, but even more importantly, they express their expertise in different ways. If we need a quick, low-budget repair, that is available from an expert. If we want to transform an old school instrument into something competitive with Hirsbrunner craftsmanship, that is available. If we want an instrument transformed into something different, that is available. All the techs I've worked with are part of the community, not separate from it, and that is a blessing.

I'm happy to hear that Joe went to Dallas. That's good news. And that he returned.

Rick "scheduling a trip to Memphis for Novemberish" Denney

TubaingAgain · Post by **TubaingAgain** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 3:12 pm

I would have to nominate Todd Handley of Cadence music in Ft. Myers, Florida. I met Todd at the ITEA conference in Sarasota earlier this year. Extemely nice person, I made a few small purchases, even tried a few tubas they had on display. I was still in the hunt for my new horn. Even though I did not purchase my new Miraphone 191 5 valve from him.

So a few weeks ago I went to rehersal opened the case and found the the 5 valve slide had come out and put a small dent in the bell. Ever see a 49 year old man almost cry. I called Todd the next day and told him what had happened. He felt my pain and said bring it down this afternoon. So off on a 45 mile ride to Ft. Myers. Arrived at Todd's shop and he looked at the dent, he smiled and said AWWWW dont worry. Well in matter of 20 minutes the small dent was gone. And my new Miraphone looked great. When I asked him how much do I owe you, His reply was " Just tell others about my shop".

I highly recommend Todd to anyone in Florida for any type of repair work.

Bandmaster · Post by **Bandmaster** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:34 pm

Don't forget the artistry of Dan Oberloh.

JohnMCooper · Post by **JohnMCooper** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 6:46 pm

Bandmaster wrote:Don't forget the artistry of Dan Oberloh.

Anyone who spends any amount of time on this forum could not possibly forget the artistry of Dan Oberloh!

circusboy · Post by **circusboy** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 6:55 pm

SoCal's Robb Stewart, who "doen't work on tubas anymore," has done beautiful and reasonably priced work for me. I just wanted him to fix a couple of major dents, and, for the original price quoted, he practically refurbished the whole horn.

eupher61 · Post by **eupher61** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:04 pm

Robb did some tuba work late last fall, at least. And I'm thrilled that he did!

thanks, Horn Guys!

MartyNeilan · Post by **MartyNeilan** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:08 am

Bob1062 wrote:there is not one thing I don't like about the look of that tuba (except for maybe the silver and that engraving dealie! ). Is that 4th slide as long as it looks? Neat!

Cut it to CC!

ASTuba · Post by **ASTuba** » Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:26 am

What about Ron Partch up in Toronto? I know that he just made my Besson play so much better, I'm thrilled with the repairs that he did. I've never heard my tuba sound so well as it did after Ron finished working on it.