The rebirth of a Holton 345 has started...

[Daniel C. Oberloh]

Hi All,
Saw the post Dave. Yes, I have made several pipes, primarily in nickel-silver and gold-brass. I did indeed make a pipe that "tripped my trolly" but it played a wee bit on the sharp side. Two other heavy-walled pipes of gold brass provided good tone and were well in tune but did impact the responsiveness, causing it to feel tad stuffy in the top and tight in the low end. I have a good candidate on the bench that I hope to find time this week and get bent and mounted. I took a few pics and will try and locate them for posting. I am really looking forward to wrapping this puppy up and getting it out to the plater. I will be posting soon.


Dan

[TubaTodd]

Is this horn finished? If so, can we see the end result. The teaser pictures were outstanding.

[Bandmaster]

I'm beginning to think I'll be too old to play it by the time I get it back. I didn't plan on Dan having to take all that time off from working on it to move his shop.

[Mark]

I'm beginning to think I'll be too old to play it by the time I get it back. I didn't plan on Dan having to take all that time off from working on it to move his shop.

I was in Dan's shop a couple of weeks ago. You are going to be a very, very happy man.

[wr4]

Can we know who took the pictures? They are beautifuly lit and composed, and there are lots of them taken at the right times, so they clearly and thoroughly convey the work that has gone on. The same person must have taken many of the pictures on the Oberloh website.
This is an epic well told.

[eupher61]

Alex, about when was the MW copy made? I think I had a prototype (maybe the 2nd or 3rd version) at TUSABTEC at one point. If the timing is right, at least. The one I had may have been an earlier attempt.

[Bandmaster]

I'm beginning to think I'll be too old to play it by the time I get it back. I didn't plan on Dan having to take all that time off from working on it to move his shop.

I was in Dan's shop a couple of weeks ago. You are going to be a very, very happy man.

Was it silver plated yet? If not, I'll still have several months to wait. I figured it out the other day... Dan has had my Holton in his shop for one tenth of my lifetime. Not exactly what I had bargined for when I left it with him. All that beautiful craftsmenship doesn't do me any good if I don't get to play it. In the last 18 months the bell engraving, leadpipe and thumbring are the only improvements that have been made.

[Mark]

I'm beginning to think I'll be too old to play it by the time I get it back. I didn't plan on Dan having to take all that time off from working on it to move his shop.

I was in Dan's shop a couple of weeks ago. You are going to be a very, very happy man.

Was it silver plated yet? If not, I'll still have several months to wait. I figured it out the other day... Dan has had my Holton in his shop for one tenth of my lifetime. Not exactly what I had bargined for when I left it with him. All that beautiful craftsmenship doesn't do me any good if I don't get to play it. In the last 18 months the bell engraving, leadpipe and thumbring are the only improvements that have been made.

Sorry, it was not silver-plated yet. However, to my untrained eye, it looked like it was ready to go to the platers. Give Dan a call.

[Wyvern]

Gosh, I looked when was your first post on this - a very long time indeed!!! I hope you agreed price up front, as with inflation over the last 5 years it could be a lot more*?

Jonathan "who thinks his goldbrass Neptune was born quick in comparison!"

*New tubas have doubled in price over that period!

[bort]

Jonathan "who thinks his goldbrass Neptune was born quick in comparison!"

Well, in all fairness, your horn was made in a factory, not a repair shop.

[Wyvern]

Well, in all fairness, your horn was made in a factory, not a repair shop.

Fair comment! My point was that the wait of several months for my Neptune seemed long to me personally, so I can sympathize with how "Bandmaster" must feel without his 'baby' for so long.

[bort]

Well, in all fairness, your horn was made in a factory, not a repair shop.

Fair comment! My point was that the wait of several months for my Neptune seemed long to me personally, so I can sympathize with how "Bandmaster" must feel without his 'baby' for so long.

Oh, I understand. I dropped off my tuba at the shop 8 hours ago, I'm ready to have it back already!

[Bandmaster]

Was it silver plated yet? If not, I'll still have several months to wait. I figured it out the other day... Dan has had my Holton in his shop for one tenth of my lifetime. Not exactly what I had bargined for when I left it with him. All that beautiful craftsmenship doesn't do me any good if I don't get to play it. In the last 18 months the bell engraving, leadpipe and thumbring are the only improvements that have been made.

Sorry, it was not silver-plated yet. However, to my untrained eye, it looked like it was ready to go to the platers. Give Dan a call.

I was told they were getting it ready to ship to the platers in early September. Looks like it got put on the back burner again. Sigh....

[bububassboner]

I got to play this Holton today in Dan's shop. This horn is one of the best 6/4 tubas I have ever played! It blows many high end horns out of the water and even does a few things better then my horn (low range on it is SWEET). You are going to love it and if you ever sell it call me first!

[The Big Ben]

I got to play this Holton today in Dan's shop. This horn is one of the best 6/4 tubas I have ever played! It blows many high end horns out of the water

After all the custom work, it *is* a high end horn!

[Tundratubast]

I don't know how happy I'd be about hearing how well my horn is being played by others, whom happened to stop by a shop where it has been worked on for a very, very, very long time; having been told its going to the plater, and yet, it still sits and is being played by walkins, waiting to be damaged again. It wouldn't make sense to me, if it were my wallet. I guess it would raise a couple of serious questions, regarding the reality of the completion schedule. But the critques of the horn are literally coming in off the street, and it does sound like a great one. I hope the owner gets to it play once, before everyone on the board who lives in the NW gets the honors to play it and tell you how fantastic your horn sounds. Bandmaster my heart goes out to you.

, I would be ; if I was the vendor, & if I was the customer, But being I just a poster, I'll guess I'll just stay

[bububassboner]

I don't know how happy I'd be about hearing how well my horn is being played by others, whom happened to stop by a shop where it has been worked on for a very, very, very long time; having been told its going to the plater, and yet, it still sits and is being played by walkins, waiting to be damaged again. It wouldn't make sense to me, if it were my wallet. I guess it would raise a couple of serious questions, regarding the reality of the completion schedule. But the critques of the horn are literally coming in off the street, and it does sound like a great one. I hope the owner gets to it play once, before everyone on the board who lives in the NW gets the honors to play it and tell you how fantastic your horn sounds. Bandmaster my heart goes out to you.

, I would be ; if I was the vendor, & if I was the customer, But being I just a poster, I'll guess I'll just stay

I think a few would agree with me that it would be foolish to spend years turning a horn from what this was when Bandmaster first got it to what it is now without having people play test it. Though the boys in the shop are good players and know what to do to a horn that is only two opinions. Plus it was nice for them to be able to compare it to the Nirschl. Dan said he had a few more things he wanted to do before sending it to the platers but it was on the work table when I was there and not sitting off to the side.

bububassboner "Who never buys a horn without at least two of his tuba friends testing it as well"

[Rick Denney]

So, you think it's unreasonable that someone might question your playing of an instrument belonging to someone else without the owner's permission? Time for me to use that same smiley. If the instrument needed to be play-tested by someone other than the guys at the shop, it should be done by the owner, or at least with the owner's knowledge and permission, it seems to me.

The issue, though, is the fact that the instrument is sitting idle rather than being actively in the process of reaching conclusion so that it can be returned to the owner. There is always wait time involved in using the services of any highly skilled artisan, but it does beg the question whether the owner expects to enjoy the instrument as a photo-essay on the Internet or actually get to play it before he dies of old age. The owner did, of course, choose a shop that does very lengthy and comprehensive appearance restorations only on their own terms.

Rick "whose clients always include a 'time is of the essence' clause" Denney

[UDELBR]

... without having people play test it.

Did he ask you to do this for him?

[tubaguy9]

... without having people play test it.

Did he ask you to do this for him?

It's usually part of a repair job, to do a play test...some things are only noticeable when you do a play test...