Bach Mercedes Tubas? How are they?

[Donn]

How are the 3-valved Vincent Bach Mercedes tubas? (Serial # 62376) I have the chance to get one for a decent price and am interested in picking up another horn to mess around with. How are these horns? What level are they good for? Thanks!

20 years ago, as I understood it they were made with tooling purchased from Olds. There was a 3 & 4 valve like the O-99, and a larger one with a detachable bell. Don't know for sure that the larger one was in the "Mercedes" line. When I've seen this name on online auctions etc., it looks like an O-99.

I used to have a 3V O-99, very beat up, my first tuba. It was pretty good for me. I have bought a half dozen or so tubas since then, and I wonder, if I had just gotten that O-99 fixed up instead, I would have come out ahead financially and musically. It's a "student" model, but a decent player.

The O-99 valve stems are fragile and apparently hard to fix, don't know if the Mercedes follows in that tradition.

[imperialbari]

'Mess around with' is a good descriptive term to use.
The 'Mercedes' line was not the cream of the crop for anything the Vincent Bach Corporation made, as opposed to the automobile agenda.
It is a declaratory student model tuba, not available with four valves (at least from any I have ever seen), and has monel valves that seem to flaw more readily than do Yamaha monel.
If 'screwing around' is all you need the horn for, go ahead and buy it. If you want a tuba for longevity, I would look elsewhere.
I've played a number of these, mostly as trials for students that wanted to buy them, and never have once been impressed by them. A bit stuffy in the lower range, nice and clear above 1st line Eb, but a little out of tune up above the staff. Used one for a Dixieland job once, and regretted it the more I played.
Would not personally buy one, no matter how low the price, unless it were under a grand, then it could be used for a backup.
My opinion, not a declaration.

[Donn]

All of this is accurate, except I'm not-at-all familiar with any "detachable bell" anything with "Bach" stamped on it.

This was from a brochure at the local Selmer/Bach rep at the time, late '80s (don't remember anything about "Mercedes" in that particular literature.) Maybe they never sold any. The only other explanation I can think of was that I was somehow confused about the big collar and what looked like thumbscrews, etc., and incorrectly assumed two pieces from the catalogue photo alone. I have an old Empire Brass LP, where Pilafian is shown with a tuba that at the time I thought looked similar.

[imperialbari]

From a circa 1988 Vincent Bach catalogue:

[imperialbari]

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