Marzans Coming Out Of The Woodwork!

[Dan Schultz]

Two more Marzans have come to my attention in the last month or so. A slant-rotor BBb in Minneapolis and a piston BBb in Florida (no... it's not James Jenkins missing horn!) How many more are out there???

[bort]

Detachable bell 4-valve CC in Baltimore/New York. Mind the creases in the bell, this is the only picture I have right now.

[Dan Schultz]

Detachable bell 4-valve CC in Baltimore/New York. Mind the creases in the bell, this is the only picture I have right now.

Nice! Email me some pictures and I'll put it on my web page.

Any more new ones out there?

[bort]

Willson? I had always thought this was a B&M one. Whoops!

[oedipoes]

Yeah.... that's one of the Willson-made ones. Nice!
Email me some pictures and I'll put it on my web page.

Any more new ones out there?

Yes, there's one of these in Belgium, willson made.
Played it once, was not really impressed, it feeled quite stuffy to play. Not at all resonant.
A heavy instrument, rather thick brass.

Wim

[bort]

I thought Willson only made the smaller CC tubas (the 17" bell ones)? Mine is the larger 19" bell model. More of a 5/4 than a 4/4, but that doesn't mean much anyway.

I've tried one of the smaller Marzan CC's before, and found it to be very stuffy, and tough to play. It was also old and probably in need of a good valve alignment. Could be part of it.

Mine plays very well and sounds great. Pedal range is a little tighter than on my 1291, but all the notes are there and it just took a little adjustment. Mid- and upper range are beautiful and speak automatically. This IS a heavy tuba -- I haven't been on a scale with it yet, but it's made of thick brass. You feel the weight a bit too since the valve set is a bit high and because of the detachable bell collar. A one-piece bell would be lighter. All in all though, it is a very fine tuba, and I really have a lot of fun playing it.

The previous owner told me (I *think*) that this was a B&M made tuba, and it looks like the other B&M's on Dan's Web site. But if it's a Willson, it seems familiar to the newer Willsons I've tried too -- heavy as lead, valve-set high-up on the horn, and sound and play great. I've never tried a B&M tuba.

[Dan Schultz]

Willson? I had always thought this was a B&M one. Whoops!

Oh no!.... my mistake. Yours IS one of the Bohm & Meinl Marzans. The receiver should be stamped 'Germany' and the bell should be about 18 3/4". Sorry.

[tubamonster]

I was just browsing for a tuba, and I came across this:

http://austin.craigslist.org/msg/1250983893.html" target="_blank

tubamonster

[Dan Schultz]

I was just browsing for a tuba, and I came across this:

tubamonster

Nice! Looks like one of the best examples I've seen. Certainly looks better than mine!