"And they're off and running"

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I'll admit it...I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, Brian. Come again?

[Todd S. Malicoate]

It's starting at nearly the price of a ready to play tuba in 4/4 size and it will surly go way, way, up before all's said and done .

Wanna friendly wager on that? I'll bet it gets no bids and fades away.

[Michael Bush]

He might have gotten somebody to pay too much for it if he had started the bidding at 99 cents. A couple of guys would have gotten emotionally involved and over-spent. But starting at $3000 it's going to be his horn, I'll bet.

[cjk]

Check out the 45 degree mouthpipe on that thing.

[Bandmaster]

BTW, this eBay seller KNOWS what he has and has lots of experience selling horns like this. His name is Steve Call and he is the tuba professor at BYU in Utah. I bought my Holton 345 from him on eBay back in 2003. This York should be in playable condition as it is.... otherwise he would say so.

[cjk]

To what are you drawing our attention, cjk? The mouthpipe (except for a big of past yanking this way and that) looks like a "big brother" of the York "Monster" Eb/Bb 'pipes to me...

Yeah, I suppose so. I was looking at the second picture in the auction. I was thinking that the leadpipe only going part of the way around the bell would be pretty uncomfortable, but I put my 2265 on my lap and rotated it 180 degrees so it would be in a "top action" orientation and also fiddled around a bit with my old York Monster EEb. The leadpipe angle in the picture would not be as uncomfortable as I first thought.

[cjk]

Regardless of one's plans for how far they are to go with it, this (buying an old Holton/York/Conn/Martin, etc.) is the only way (that I know of) to acquire a 4-loop 6/4-size BBb tuba.

The Gronitz PBK is definitely a 3-loop, and I believe the Fafner is as well.

Why would a 4-loop tuba be desirable? Inquiring minds want to know.

[TUBAD83]

Can you say "Money pit"??

JJ

[JHardisk]

Can you say "Money pit"??

JJ

Not neccessarily...

A good friend and prominent midwest tubist has been on somewhat of a "tuba hunt" for the past few years. In his quest, he purchased an old York 6/4 BBb tuba with a cracked bell, strange upright valves, and leaks galore. We were hanging around in his orchestra hall playing exceprts and trying big tubas between the two of us. 1 would play them, the other blindly listen in the hall. Among those were 2 Yorkbrunners (1 of which belongs to some guy in Chicago who knows a ton about York tubas), My newly acquired 6450 production model, a Yamayork, a PCK, a Fafner, and this York BBb. And wouldn't you know... the sound of that York BBb was the absolute best BY FAR than any other tuba. Pitch was strange at times, but it certainly had a lot of contributing factors that needed to be addressed.

If he had been willing to give that tuba up, I would have sunk mucho dinero into it to make it what I wanted. Instead, I picked up the handmade 6450 and changed it quite a bit. It's only a money pit to those who aren't going to make it back by playing it...

[bort]

It's the same thing as buying a 1960-something Corvette and restoring it. When you buy it, there's not much chance it'll be a daily driver, but it'll give you that "What if..." itch. Some people will jump on that. Others will pass for a new one. And most will have to be content to look, but not touch.

If I had the dough and the need, I might take on one of these projects. But I don't have either. Not to mention, in the end, I'd just be buying the repariman/rebuilder's work. I would be a proud owner, but it's not like *I* would have done anything myself to the tuba...

[JHardisk]

I heard a soprano with a beautiful voice the other day...She sang out-of-tune, but the sound was the best I'd ever heard...

Joe,

Did she have readily accessible, free moving slides? Perhaps some of her valve tubing was a little too long, or short? Bad dents? Leaky valves? A crappy holton valveset? A screwed up receiver? Oh, wait... We're talking about a singer.... Right?

With 5 valves and accessible, free moving slides, there's no excuse to not play in tune. And if you find a tuba that plays dead on, in tune without any fiddlin, AND has a good sound, you've solved a ton of peoples' problems.

What say you, oh perveyor of pitch?

[Bandmaster]

BTW, this eBay seller KNOWS what he has and has lots of experience selling horns like this. His name is Steve Call and he is the tuba professor at BYU in Utah. I bought my Holton 345 from him on eBay back in 2003. This York should be in playable condition as it is.... otherwise he would say so.

Just like yours was, eh Dave?

Actually, the Holton I bought from Steve was VERY playable when I got it. He had overhauled the valves at Andersons a couple of years earlier, had all the major dents removed and had taken it to Italy and played it himself in a dixieland band at a European jazz festival. Steve told me the history of the horn before I bought it, including how he rescued it from a high school band in Utah. It just looked like warmed over crap with all those patches! But I guess in dixieland circles looking like crap is cool... I played it for seven months before I took it up to Dan. I liked how it played, that's why I wanted to spend the money on it!