"Handmade" by Warren Deck?

[daveinem]

Did Warren Deck actually make this tuba?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Handmade-Meinl-West ... 35aac7602f" target="_blank

[J.c. Sherman]

Could be... it's not a factory model.

[ztuba]

warren deck regularly worked/experimented on his horns

[cjk]

Could be... it's not a factory model.

What are you noticing that I'm not? It looks like a 2165 with the lacquer stripped off to me.

[Timswisstuba]

It looks like a factory model to me, but the 'pipe may (??) have been replaced. Those with the old sharp-edged non-adjustable thumb ring often had a pipe bent more like this, and right here it looks like the replacement (??) 'pipe may have been (??) distorted when it was installed.

Bloke knows his pipes!

[J.c. Sherman]

The nickel-silver ferules didn't look right to me on the bottom bow, and the first brance after the main tuning slide also looked like the wrong bend. Also it's a royal $#@%$ to strip a factory horn that well, and they don't typically sell it that way.

[bort]

Looks like the whole valve section is about an inch or two lower. On this one, the 4th valve button is about right between the two bottom ferrules. Other photos I've seen make it look about an inch or two higher. The smallest branch at the top looks lower on this tuba too. Just the angle, maybe?

[Bandmaster]

Looks like the whole valve section is about an inch or two lower...Just the angle, maybe?

I would say (as a 2165 owner) that it is unlikely, because

1/ again, that 'pipe is a bit longer than the 45° angle style, and
2/ lowering the valveset an inch would add even more length (at least 2") to the length of the overall instrument, likely resulting in an instrument that might barely or might not even tune up to A=440.

Maybe they rebent the last branch, like Dan Oberloh did on my Holton, so he could move the valves to more comfortable position?